Talking About Faith Increases Hospital Patients' Overall Satisfaction.

[Tank]

Talking About Faith Increases Hospital Patients' Overall Satisfaction, Study Finds

ScienceDaily (July 13, 2011) — Hospitalized patients who had conversations about religion and spirituality with the healthcare team were the most satisfied with their overall care. However, 20 percent of patients who would have valued these discussions say their desires went unmet, according to a new study by Joshua Williams from the University of Chicago, USA, and his colleagues.

Their work appears online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, published by Springer.

Religious and spiritual concerns are particularly prominent during times of illness, suffering and death. Some medical leaders and policy-makers in the US have urged healthcare systems and providers to give due attention to patients' spiritual concerns. However, there is disagreement about which members of the healthcare team should ask about and address these concerns. According to hospitalized patients in this study, whom they speak to makes no difference -- the important factor appears to be that they have these discussions...

So finally research confirms that a good bedside manner and time to talk to patients are important, not really a surprise there then 

[xSilverPhinx]

So finally research confirms that a good bedside manner and time to talk to patients are important, not really a surprise there then 

Yeah, though I guess the topics that come up the most are those that faith deals with. It's good placebo.

[Tank]

So finally research confirms that a good bedside manner and time to talk to patients are important, not really a surprise there then 

Yeah, though I guess the topics that come up the most are those that faith deals with. It's good placebo.

Being in hospital is boring and stressful, and eventually terminal in many cases as the majority of people die in hospitals/hospices. So it does make sense that people will feel more comfortable if they get to talk about their situation. Imagine just laying on a bed waiting to die with no human company? Not good. So I'm not so sure we are talking wholly about the placebo effect here as the research was into satisfaction with the hospital 'experience' not necessarily if people got better or not. I did toy with the idea of becoming a hospital visitor/chaplin(atheist) a while ago, but in the end felt I was doing it for the wrong reasons so changed my mind.

[OldGit]

If I end up dying in a hospital and a chaplain comes and mentions religion to me, I will indeed get great satisfaction from telling the bugger where to stick it. 

[fester30]

Of course the article doesn't mention whose satisfaction is increased by faith talks, specifically.  My satisfaction was greatly increased when the doctor told me that if I needed spiritual guidance he'd get me the chaplain, that he doesn't do that.  Instead, he sat down and showed me some artists' pictures of the anatomy in question and described in detail the surgery I was about to go through.  Then the anesthetist spoke to me about my medical history and allergies and told me about the drugs she would use and the specific effects those would have on my systems.  I was comforted by the fact that my doctors were able to convince me they knew their jobs.  A doctor praying by my bedside would actually kinda worry me, that he wasn't perhaps confident in his own abilities and was counting on someone else to make sure he didn't screw it up.

[Sweetdeath]

Of course the article doesn't mention whose satisfaction is increased by faith talks, specifically.  My satisfaction was greatly increased when the doctor told me that if I needed spiritual guidance he'd get me the chaplain, that he doesn't do that.  Instead, he sat down and showed me some artists' pictures of the anatomy in question and described in detail the surgery I was about to go through.  Then the anesthetist spoke to me about my medical history and allergies and told me about the drugs she would use and the specific effects those would have on my systems.  I was comforted by the fact that my doctors were able to convince me they knew their jobs.  A doctor praying by my bedside would actually kinda worry me, that he wasn't perhaps confident in his own abilities and was counting on someone else to make sure he didn't screw it up.

Being in a hospital is scary, but if a doctor came up to me and said "I have faith in God this <insert surgery here> will go well," i'd ask for a different doctor. I don't believe any idiot would work so hard just to give god the credit for their work and skills.

D:  sadly, I do not find comfort in invisible friends. (Though I do have tea parties with my little ponies when I am really bored.)

[Tank]

Of course the article doesn't mention whose satisfaction is increased by faith talks, specifically.  My satisfaction was greatly increased when the doctor told me that if I needed spiritual guidance he'd get me the chaplain, that he doesn't do that.  Instead, he sat down and showed me some artists' pictures of the anatomy in question and described in detail the surgery I was about to go through.  Then the anesthetist spoke to me about my medical history and allergies and told me about the drugs she would use and the specific effects those would have on my systems.  I was comforted by the fact that my doctors were able to convince me they knew their jobs.  A doctor praying by my bedside would actually kinda worry me, that he wasn't perhaps confident in his own abilities and was counting on someone else to make sure he didn't screw it up.

Being in a hospital is scary, but if a doctor came up to me and said "I have faith in God this <insert surgery here> will go well," i'd ask for a different doctor. I don't believe any idiot would work so hard just to give god the credit for their work and skills.

D:  sadly, I do not find comfort in invisible friends. (Though I do have tea parties with my little ponies when I am really bored.)

You have GOT to video one of those and put it on YouTube, it'll go viral in minutes!!