Spirituality and Health in Our Federal Government

I agree wholeheartedly. Last year some colleagues and I published an article that tried to point out some of the disconnect among the faith community, healthcare community, and scientific community. We suggested ways to address that. Here is the reference:

Clements, A. D., Cyphers, N., Whittaker, D. L., Hamilton, B., & McCarty, B. (2021). Using trauma informed principles in health communication: Improving faith/science/clinical collaboration to address addiction. Frontiers in Psychology: Health Psychology, 12, Article 781484 https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.781484

A couple of things that you may want to add are:

There is also the "Theology, Medicine, and Culture Initiative" at Duke. I was trained by Harold Koenig back in 2008, but since have done lots of research and training collaboration with TMC. Also, there is some light in the CDC. I've been a consultant as they develop materials for the faith community regarding Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). We had a multi-faith group that has worked on a training for the past couple of years. I believe it is close to launch if it hasn't launched already.

The news is not nearly so good in the area of research funding. Have you seen the recent Crystal Park et al. article calling out funders for the underfunding of research in this area as well? Here are the citation and abstract:
Park, George, J. R., Saya Awao, Carney, L. M., Batt, S., & Salsman, J. M. (2022). U.S. Federal Investment in Religiousness/Spirituality and Health Research: A Systematic Review. Religions (Basel, Switzerland ), 13(8), 725–. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13080725

Abstract: Objectives: Although robust associations between aspects of religiousness/spirituality (R/S) and physical health have been established, little systematic information is available about federal funding support for this area of research. To address this question, we conducted a comprehensive systematic review and analysis. Study Design: Systematic review. Methods: We used the information provided by the Federal RePORTER and searched from earliest date through the end of 2018. Abstracts were included if they were an empirical study and included both a religion/spirituality variable and a health variable. Results: Our search yielded 194 grants reflecting over USD 214 million in research expenditures, with the vast majority (85%) funded by the NIH. Most common were community-based observational studies with healthy populations (70%). Nearly three-quarters (73%) of studies specifying age focused on adults, but children and adolescents were also well represented in these projects. The proportion of studies focused on racial/ethnic minorities (47%) was disproportionate to their representation in the U.S. population, which could reflect either heightened efforts to address health disparities or a view that R/S is primarily or mostly relevant to minority groups. Less than half of funded studies (41%) considered religion a central focus and publications for R/S-focused studies were less common than for non-R/S-focused studies (M = 7.0 to M = 13.3, respectively, p = 0.06). Overall funding levels appear to be declining in more recent years, although this trend was not statistically significant (p = 0.52). Many abstracts did not provide adequate details for coding. Conclusions: Overall, the present review suggests that U.S. federal funding for research on R/S and health is substantial, but most of this has only peripherally considered R/S and has yielded modest return on investment. Promising future directions include a continued focus on racial and ethnic minority populations as well as in emerging areas such as religious gratitude and compassion along with well-designed intervention trials.

I also run a nonprofit aimed at equipping the faith community to address addiction (Uplift Appalachia). We are trying to use what the science supports.

Thanks for pulling us together. I also posted this on your site.

Thank you Dale for the well-written blog with a very important issue. Let me know how I can support you more.