Additional information
by Michael J. Balboni (Author), John R. Peteet (Author)
Spirituality and Religion Within the Culture of Medicine provides a comprehensive evaluation of the relationship between spirituality, religion, and medical practice. The authors, all leading clinician-researchers in their fields, assess the strengths and weaknesses of the most recent empirical research of religion and spirituality within many distinct fields of medicine. Recognizing the interdisciplinary aspects of spirituality, religion, and health, the book also turns to scholarship throughout a multitude of academic fields-including psychology, sociology, anthropology, law, history, philosophy, and theology-to consider cultural dimensions of clinical practice. This is the first time in a single volume that readers can reflect on these multi-dimensional, complex issues with contributions from leading scholars, as well as the first collection that assesses how the medical context interacts with patient spirituality recognizing crucial differences between contexts from
obstetrics and family medicine, to nursing, to gerontology and the ICU.
Author Biography
Michael J. Balboni is a theologian and social-scientific researcher at Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He is co-director of the Initiative on Health, Religion, and Spirituality at Harvard University and co-leads the National Conference on Medicine and Religion. His empirical research focuses on describing the spiritual beliefs and practices of patients, clinicians, and religious communities in end-of-life care. His theological work examines religion and spirituality within secular medical contexts, including Hostility to Hospitality (Oxford University Press), co-written with Tracy Balboni, MD. He is Senior Minister to the Longwood Christian Community, an intentional religious community of healthcare students and professionals in Boston.
