“Don’t stop believing!” From health religiosity to an equality-enhancing hermeneutic of health promotion

Britta Pelters,Åsa Roxberg

doi:10.1080/17482631.2018.1555420

Abstract

ABSTRACTPurpose: Health beliefs are usually regarded as subjective understandings of one’s health. They can, however, be re-interpreted by drawing on the understanding that the structural features of the health discourse resemble the characteristics of a religion and on the spiritual dimension of health with its possibly salutogenic influence. The applicability of the notion of “health religiosity” and its consequences for individual health promotion are explored.Method: Data consist of already existent semi-structured interviews. These have been reanalyzed in a deductive-hermeneutical way by using a five-dimensional concept of religiosity as deductive template.Results: The concept of religiosity proved to be productive and revealed that all health dimensions in the case are infused with spiritually ennobled ideas.Conclusion: We conclude that, irrespective of their factual accuracy, the salutogenic potential of ennobled ideas may best be utilized by understanding them hermeneutically. An exploration of a narrative hermeneutic approach to individual health promotion is suggested as the merging of meaning horizons in a hermeneutic dialogue is expected to increase awareness of spiritualized aspects of health beliefs. This may mitigate healthism and health disparities. Moreover, three challenges for individual health promotion are anticipated: realizing the situation, recognizing its complexity and resisting a simplistic practical approach.

Highlights

This paper explores the possibility of eliciting subjective religiously/spiritually ennobled ideas regarding health and the influence of these ideas on everyday life, i.e., a “health religiosity,” as well as the consequences of such a health religiosity in theory and practice within the realm of health promotion
The aim of this study is to explore the notion of health religiosity and its consequences for individual health promotion as well as the concept of health
The concept of religiosity with its five dimensions can be productively applied to health beliefs, thereby revealing a spiritualization of health dimensions by infusing ennobled ideas

Summary

Introduction

This paper explores the possibility of eliciting subjective religiously/spiritually ennobled ideas regarding health and the influence of these ideas on everyday life, i.e., a “health religiosity,” as well as the consequences of such a health religiosity in theory and practice within the realm of health promotion. 17) and smokers addressing themselves as “a bunch of sinners” while waiting for a cigarette break, considering smoking as their shared sin which they are about to commit (observed in March 2017). It is this metaphoric relationship between religion and health from which the paper originates and the related body of research that this study contributes to. Other studies discuss r/s in relation to attachment theory and its relational establishment of feelings of security (Kirkpatrick, 1992; Reinert, Edwards, & Hendrix, 2009) These emphasize connectedness and hope as sources of salutogenic effects (Unterrainer, Ladenhauf, Moazedi, WallnerLiebmann, & Fink, 2010)

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