A recent study concludes that health-care professionals and clergy should work together to promote recovery from alcohol and other drug addictions, Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly reported Dec. 3.Previous studies have shown that religion or spirituality plays a positive role in helping addicted individuals; the new study by researchers at Columbia University found that religion and medicine must come together in order for addiction treatment to be effective.
"Too often, clergy and physicians, religion and science, are ships passing in the night," said Joseph A. Califano Jr., president of Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA), which conducted the two-year study. "When we separate the worlds of medicine and spirituality, we deny effective help to a host of individuals with substance abuse problems."
The report, "So Help Me God: Substance Abuse, Religion and Spirituality," explores the link between God, religion and spirituality and addiction prevention, treatment, and recovery, and how to better link them together.
The report is based on analyses of the 1998 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, the General Social Survey, and CASA's Back to School surveys, as well as interviews with clergy, presidents of schools of theology and seminaries, and a review of studied treatment and prevention programs that incorporate religious components.
The research found two key areas where the link between treatment and religion breaks down. First, health-care professionals, especially mental-health workers, fail to take into consideration the importance of spirituality in treating people with addiction. Secondly, clergy lack the knowledge and training to address the problem.
"If ever the sum were greater than the parts, it is in combining the power of God, religion and spirituality with the power of science and professional medicine to prevent and treat substance abuse and addiction," said Califano.
The report recommended the use of training programs to help educate doctors and treatment specialists "to understand that many patients desire spiritual help as complements to medical treatment."
The report also suggested a closer working relationship among health-care professionals and clergy members, as well as an education process where they can teach each other about how best to respond to patient needs.
COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE: