Spiritual Views & Ethics

Spirituality generally discussed in relation to the term “religion”, spirituality holds an important place for most of the people from believers to non-believers of any specific belief system. Religion, generally referred as an organized belief system within a relationship with the Creator/Power, is the source for many spiritual practices and spiritual approaches while spirituality can be explained under “an ability to establish a meaningful relationship between the inner-self, others and the divine (God) through faith, hope and love”. For, religion is in fact a form which spirituality takes in practice.

Spirituality and healthcare belong together. After all, spirituality inspires and shapes the commitment of religious communities to found and sponsor institutions that care for the sick.

Moreover, this has confirmed that the practice of spiritual disciplines can have a positive medical value and so must be regarded as a significant variable in the overall well-being of the patient. Holistic care is now the standard of care. That being so, everyone is getting interested in spirituality—from managers to medical professionals to patients. It is no longer the preserve of the spiritual care department. Spiritual interests and practices are cutting across the boundaries of religion and medicine to become integral to all aspects of the practice of medicine, including ethics.

However, the relation of spirituality and ethics in healthcare has not yet received much attention. While considerable effort has gone into developing and refining modes of ethical thinking to guide clinical practice, little effort has been directed toward making the connections between spirituality and ethics.