Toward a translational epidemiology of religion: Challenges and applications

Abstract

This paper explores the concept of translational epidemiology in the context of epidemiologic studies of religious determinants of morbidity and mortality. Despite a research literature of, by now, thousands of published studies, many in top-tier medical and public health journals, some resistance remains to full acceptance of this work. A principal reason may be the failure of investigators to make the case for real-world applications of epidemiologic findings on religious risk or protection for subsequent personal or population health, in keeping with the definition of translational epidemiology. To remedy this, a case is made for a translational epidemiology of religion. Three types of translation are proposed. The first two recall the standard definition of translational medicine as "from bench to bedside," in this instance two types of bedside encounters, pastoral and clinical. The third application is to public health practice, involving multiple public health professions and specialties. As with other substantive topics within psychosocial epidemiology, research on population-health outcomes of religious exposures provides information that can be applied to development of health promotion and disease prevention programs and formulation of health policy. But this can happen only if investigators give more attention to enumerating potential uses of their findings.