WJC12 Session 2 - What is the Relevance of Religion and Spirituality to Mental Health? Perspectives of Mental Health Clients

Description:

Overview:
Helping professionals across professions are interested in the relationship between religion and spirituality (RS) and mental health. This WJC session’s article shares research from 989 U.S. adults who saw a mental health provider within the month prior to filling out an online survey regarding their perceptions of the relevance of RS to their mental health . The survey was used to develop and validate the Relevance of Religion and Spirituality to Mental Health (RRSMH) scale. The instrument’s validity was very good. The key finding was that “clients view RS as both supportive and relevant to their mental health. In this session we will be discussing quantitative research methods involved in creating an assessment instrument and how health care chaplains can incorporate the research findings into their practice with people experiencing mental health issues.

Learning Objectives:

• To understand the quantitative methods involved in creating an assessment instrument
• To understand the role of religion and spirituality in mental health from the perspective of clients themselves
• For chaplains to begin to think critically about how the research findings can positively impact their spiritual care with persons experiencing mental health issues

Reading:
Oxhandler. H. K., Pargament, K. I., Pearce, M. J., Vieten, C. & Moffatt, K. M. (2021). The relevance of religion and spirituality to mental health: A national survey of current clients' views, Social Work, 66(3), pp. 254-264. https://DOI:10.1093/sw/swab025

Presenters:
Cate Michelle Desjardins MDiv MPH BCC, is the Executive Director of Mennonite Healthcare Fellowship and convener of the Pediatrics Spiritual Care Research Network. She previously served for five years in various roles at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Her research interests include the role of religion in surrogate decision-making and in coping with caregiving for children with complex medical needs. She completed the Transforming Chaplaincy Research Fellowship in 2019.

Rev. Beth Muehlhausen PhD MDiv BCC LCSW is a spiritual care researcher and instructor with Transforming Chaplaincy. She previously served for four years as the Sr. Researcher for Mission Integration for Ascension. She is a qualitative researcher utilizing hermeneutic phenomenology and mixed methods. She has published several articles on spirituality, chaplaincy, and spiritual care during the pandemic. She has presented several workshops and intensives at the annual APC conference, for NACC and the North American Association of Christians in Social Work.

How It Works:
When you purchase this recording, you will receive a link to access the recording. There will also be a link to access in the My Downloads and Links section of your APC profile.