This essay introduces the special issue, provides criteria for evaluating spiritual exemplars, presents a case study to illustrate how spiritual exemplars can extend our knowledge of spiritual development, and makes important distinctions between types of exemplars and between positive and pathological spirituality.

BACKGROUND Organizations that encourage the respectful expression of diverse spiritual views have higher productivity and performance, and support employees with greater organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Within healthcare, there is a paucity of studies which define or intervene on the spiritual needs of healthcare workers, or examine the effects of a pro-spirituality environment o...

OBJECTIVES Studies have shown beneficial effects from practicing the relaxation response (RR). Various pathways for these effects have been investigated. Previous small studies suggest that spirituality might be a pathway for the health effects of the RR. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that increased spiritual well-being by eliciting the RR is one pathway resulting in improved psycholo...

BACKGROUND Spiritual well-being is an important dimension of quality of life (QOL) and is a core component of quality oncology and palliative care. In this analysis, we aimed to describe spiritual well-being outcomes in a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-supported Program Project that tested the effectiveness of an interdisciplinary palliative care intervention in lung cancer patients and their ...

This paper addresses the issue of integrating spirituality with substance abuse treatment by presenting the workings of the ‘‘Spirituality Group,’’ a therapy group for substance abusing veterans at a Midwestern Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Common themes from the group, case examples, and a discussion of working with group resistances are presented. The last 100 years have witnessed a variet...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of predicting psychological well-being based on spirituality and religiousness. METHODS A sample of 300 participants was selected from the whole entrants to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences and Shiraz University using a random cluster sampling. The tools of this study were the Spiritual Scale of Ironson, the Internal and ...

Sri Dattatreya, who Lord Krishna quotes in The Uddhava Gita, has been evoked as a guru for environmental education. Sri Dattatreya gained enlightenment by observing the world, which provided Him with 24 instructors. These taught Him the futility of mundane attachments, the benefits of contemplation and forebearance, and a path towards the spiritual self-realization of the Supreme. Sri Dattatrey...

A causal theory of spiritual leadership is developed within an intrinsic motivation model that incorporates vision, hope/faith, and altruistic love, theories of workplace spirituality, and spiritual survival. The purpose of spiritual leadership is to create vision and value congruence across the strategic, empowered team, and individual levels and, ultimately, to foster higher levels of organiz...

BACKGROUND Sleep disorders are considered as one of the most important problems in hemodialysis patients, making their everyday life a serious hazard. Sleep quality of hemodialysis patients and consequences of sleep disorders on other aspects of health such as spiritual well-being are important issues. OBJECTIVES This study examined the relationship between spiritual well-being and quality of...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to explore if and how spiritual needs are assessed and if spiritual care is provided to Dutch nursing home residents, including residents suffering from dementia, and if and how caregivers communicate and collaborate regarding the residents' spiritual needs. DESIGN Two researchers conducted an ethnographic participatory study in a Dutch nursing home betwee...