Religious beliefs and practices in acute mental health patients.

BACKGROUND Holistic practice involves caring for the physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs of patients. Spiritual assessment is an important part of the patient's overall assessment. Religion is a component of spirituality and is supported by a recognisable formal system of beliefs. Religious beliefs might help patients in their search for meaning in life, especially in difficult circumstances such as during an episode of illness. A small, retrospective anonymous audit of patients' notes (n = 23) was undertaken to assess the recording of patients' religious affiliations, beliefs and practices in an acute mental health unit for older people. CONCLUSION All individuals had a religious affiliation documented in their notes, but there was a lack of recorded information about their beliefs and practices. The findings showed that religious beliefs were only discussed with patients who had psychotic symptoms that had a religious content. Therefore, it would seem that patients on this unit are not having their spiritual and religious needs met. Staff training on religious awareness might help to address these issues.