The aim of this article is to describe the spiritual aspects of palliative care of Muslim patients based on experiences of end-of-life care in Iran. The religions of the world play a major part in the life cycle of their adherents, and most have rituals and beliefs concerning the care of dying people. For Muslims, death is believed to be not only the cessation of a complex set of biochemical pr...

Religious and spiritual (R/S) dimensions of mental health have been poorly studied in psychiatry in the last 150 years. In the late 19th century, Jean Charcot and Sigmund Freud began to associate religion with hysteria and neurosis, and therby interpreting this social phenomenon als psychopathology. This began a deep divide that would separate religion from mental health care for the next centu...

BACKGROUND Families with disabled children need more psycho-social considerations. Motherhood care of the children with multiple disabilities is difficult. Due to its importance, the aim of this study was to investigate the causal factors affecting loving care of mothers of children with multiple disabilities. METHODS The study used a cross-sectional method in which 75 mothers of exceptional ...

BACKGROUND Postpartum blues is a transient change of moods occurring in the first few days after delivery. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of religious doctrines on postpartum blues in primiparous women. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this randomized controlled tria1, 84 primiparous women who had average or weak religious attitude were randomly divided into intervention and contro...

BACKGROUND HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination are significant determinants of HIV transmission in the Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), where the adult HIV/AIDS prevalence is 2.5%. T&T is a spiritually-aware society and over 104 religious groups are represented. This religious diversity creates a complex social environment for the transmission of a sexually transmitt...

BACKGROUND Tobacco use during pregnancy is associated with adverse child outcomes. There is evidence that religiosity/spirituality is associated with less tobacco use. This study aims to investigate the association further, including an assessment of overall religiousness and specific aspects of religiosity/spirituality. METHODS 404 pregnant women receiving prenatal care in three southern obs...

Of growing concern over Jehovah's Witnesses' (JWs) refusal of blood is the intrusion of the religious organisation into its members' personal decision making about medical care. The organisation currently may apply severe religious sanctions to JWs who opt for certain forms of blood-based treatment. While the doctrine may be maintained as the unchangeable "law of God", the autonomy of individua...

Recent advances in the fields of organ donation and organ transplant have introduced new hope for the treatment of serious diseases. However, this promise has been accompanied by several issues. The most common issue raised is ethical implications, but in a multicultural society like Malaysia, additional concerns arise pertaining to social and religious issues. These concerns needs to be addres...

Over the past 25 years, the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has changed its guidelines regarding religious/spiritual care of hospitalized patients to increase attention concerning this aspect of hospital-based care. Little empirical evidence assesses the extent to which hospitals relied on hospital chaplains as care providers during these years. This study inv...

Although respect for parents' decision-making authority is an important principle, pediatricians should report suspected cases of medical neglect, and the state should, at times, intervene to require medical treatment of children. Some parents' reasons for refusing medical treatment are based on their religious or spiritual beliefs. In cases in which treatment is likely to prevent death or seri...