Purdue researchers study
connection between health, religious convictions
By Anna Herkamp
Summer
Reporter
New studies of the link between religious beliefs
and health may dispel some myths about how people cope with serious
illness.
Two faculty members at Purdue, Kenneth Ferraro,
a professor of sociology and psychological sciences and director of
gerontology program, and Jessica Kelley-Moore, a doctoral student, have
been studying data collected from a study done at the University of
Michigan.
The main myth the faculty members wanted to explore
was how intense religious beliefs become when a person is diagnosed
with a severe illness.
The question we wanted to explore was how accurate
the myth of 'deathbed conversions' is in times of serious illness, said
Kelley-Moore.
After closely examining the study's data, Ferraro
and Kelley-Moore concluded that the myth of hard-held religious conversion
after no previous such beliefs were held were mostly myth.
"Anything is possible," Ferraro said. However,
the data suggest that people who had no religious convictions prior
to their diagnosis would probably not suddenly convert to a specific
religion.
Kelley-Moore said they wanted to know what actually
happens to people's faith when they are diagnosed with a sickness like
cancer.
She said they found people who have religious convictions
or at least some religious background tended to use it as a coping mechanism.
While people use a variety of coping mechanisms,
whether it is the straight-forward understanding of the disease, or
alternative types of medicine, religion was one of the more beneficial,
said Ferraro.
Believing in a higher being has benefits to a person's
health whether they are seriously ill or not, he said.
There are three ways that faith helps patients
heal from serious illness said Kelley-Moore.
One way is that people who belong to a church tend
to be a part of a larger network in which the group will pool together
to support the member who is in need of care.
Some examples could be childcare or taking care
of household chores while the member is in the hospital, or bringing
meals to them while they are recovering.
A second way that religious groups promote health
is that they tend to see partaking in certain activities such as smoking,
drinking alcohol and even eating red meat can be conflicting to what
they believe is a pious way to live.
Staying away from potentially harmful substances
promotes health long term.
A third way is that religion tends to give meaning
and answers to the pain and suffering from illness. Patients can identify
with their faith in ways that give them comfort and understanding of
a higher being; this mental outlook promotes a positive attitude towards
recovery.
The study also found that women are more likely
than men to identify with religion as a source of comfort in times of
sickness. Further, men tended to deal with a wider variety of issues
religiously such as unemployment and financial crisis.
The reasons for this aren't clear, however, Kelley-Moore
it may have something to do with how society teaches men and women to
deal with problems. Men tend to act more independently and feel like
they need to take control of situations while women feel like they should
be able to ask for help and turn to spirituality for answers, she said.
Ferraro and Kelley-Moore both say that the study's
findings indicate that health care professionals should be sensitive
to a patient's beliefs.
I don't think the doctors and nurses should interrogate
the patients about what they believe, but if the patient brings it up,
they should encourage them to participate in their religion because
it provides a good mental outlook that will help them recover, said
Ferraro.
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