Faith-based Health Care Research Articles

Understanding the Roles of Religion in Nursing Practice as a Prescriptive Instrument for High-Quality Faith-Based Healthcare

Abstract Religion is the patient’s belief in a higher power. This power could have a significant impact on the care provided by nurses. Therefore, it is important to examine the role of religion in providing holistic and faith-based nursing care. The objective of this study is to assess the roles of religion in nursing practice. This study reviewed previous works of literature and screened for eligibility, with the search years of 2018–2024 to capture the identified variables in the review objectives. In our literature search, we discovered various ways in which religion intersects with nursing practice, shaping attitudes, beliefs, decision-making processes, and holistic patient care through transcultural nursing theory. In conclusion, we discovered that religion has a diverse and significant role in nursing practice, influencing both professional aspects of caregiving and patient well-being; it brings strength, hope, comfort, and resilience. All of these help patients cope with anxiety, stress, and depression while improving the overall health outcomes. It is therefore essential that nurses acquire at least a basic knowledge of the most common religions to provide holistic care that meets their patients’ needs. We also encourage nurses to work following their clients’ religious beliefs and not discriminate when they differ from their own.

The Claim for An Institutional Identity in Healthcare Activities: the Italian Case

Abstract The aim of this article is to analyse the status of religiously affiliated health facilities in Italy. Many faith-based healthcare institutions are currently entrapped between the expectation to participate in the healthcare public delivery, and the need for a preservation of their religious identity. Indeed, they are facing an increasing risk of a weakening of their religious identity, due to the evolution of civil law regulating ethically controversial issues, which is increasingly distancing from the religious approach, undermining the traditional religious accommodation granted to faith-based healthcare institutions. However, the preservation of their religious ethos requires dealing with a ‘web of relationships’ which includes the founding religious order, patients, practitioners, the State and a ‘highly competitive market’. This article explores the feasibility of an intermediate path between complete immunity and strict non-tolerance of their religious ethos, in the pursuit of the constitutional principles of pluralism, positive neutrality, and subsidiarity.

Infection prevention and control: Qualitative study of the preparedness and response of Christian health Association of Ghana to Marburg virus disease in Ghana

ObjectiveRecent disease outbreaks underscore the importance of robust disease surveillance and infection prevention and control (IPC) programmes to bolster Africa's public health response system. Yet, available evidence shows extensive gaps in the emergency response capacity of faith-based healthcare providers on the continent. Accordingly, this study examines the IPC and surveillance strategies adopted by a faith-based healthcare provider and the challenges encountered during Marburg Virus Disease outbreak (MVD) in Ghana. MethodWe collected data from 15 clinical and nonclinical health workers from the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS). Data was collected through online interviews to examine two pillars of the WHO COVID-19 SPRP-AFR (2021) framework. We analyzed the data using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis. FindingsThe facility performed creditably well with contact tracing and other quarantine protocols during MVD outbreak in Ghana. However, it also encountered several challenges in the enforcement of IPC protocols, including human resource constraints, the lack of decontamination equipment, and limited infrastructure, among others. Given these limitations, we assessed that the facility cannot handle major outbreaks. ConclusionDue to numerous infectious disease outbreaks in Sub-Saharan Africa in recent years, the government of Ghana and faith-based healthcare providers must resource their facilities with the relevant equipment and qualified human resources against future disease outbreaks.

Faith-based healthcare in Africa: stylized facts from data collected by the Catholic Church

While research on faith-based healthcare in Africa covers a rich array of topics, we still need to better understand some of the basic features of the sector, including its size. This editorial provides a brief discussion of the size of the faith-based healthcare sector globally and in Africa and some of its characteristics based on data on the number of facilities operated by the Catholic Church in Africa, the largest provider of faith-based healtcare globally and on the continent. Africa is the region of the world where the number of Catholic health facilities operated by the Church has increased the most in the last 40 years, but there is a lot of heterogeneity between countries in terms of the number of Catholic facilities in operation.

Faith-based healthcare in Africa: a special issue

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Faith-based pharmaceutical supply chains and their role in African pharmaceutical systems: a qualitative systematic review

For the health system to function well, the population must have equitable access to quality, affordable pharmaceutical supplies; however, pharmaceutical systems in Africa are challenged by inadequate funding, drug stock outs and irregular supplies, a shortage of trained pharmacy personnel, and a lack of systems for drug regulation and quality. Faith-based health providers, as private, not-for-profit actors, have long complemented public sector efforts in the supply of pharmaceuticals in Africa. However, the contribution of faith-based health providers in pharmaceutical systems has not been formally studied. This study examines the nature and function of faith-based healthcare providers in improving access to pharmaceutical supplies in Africa. To do so, we conducted an exploratory qualitative systematic review to identify documents that contain information on faith-based involvement in pharmaceutical supply in Africa. The review identified 20 articles for inclusion. These articles were analyzed using thematic, narrative analysis. The analysis revealed a significant evidence gap relating to the contribution of private-not-for-profit, faith-based providers to African pharmaceutical systems. The review suggests that while faith-based drug supply organizations have existed for a long time and contribute significantly to national pharmaceutical systems, there is very little known about the nature of faith-based pharmaceutical providers and how they complement public sector pharmaceutical systems. In many contexts, faith-based involvement in pharmaceutical systems improved access for the general population and increased the supply of pharmaceuticals in national systems. Faith-based drug supply organizations also often provide pharmaceutical supplies to both rural and urban areas, often targeting rural and remote areas particularly. The review also indicates that faith-based drug supply organizations improved access to medicines and related commodities and, despite a lack of regulation in many contexts, have the potential to make a positive contribution to quality assurance of pharmaceuticals. In summary, the analysis confirmed that faith-based involvement in pharmaceutical supply chains contributes to strengthening the national health system by complementing the public pharmaceutical system through improved access to medicines and related commodities in Africa. These conclusions corroborate the need to continually document and acknowledge faith-based healthcare providers’ efforts which could guide the formulation of stringent, evidence-based strategies.

From India to Africa: a different approach for faith-based healthcare in Africa

From India to Africa: a different approach for faith-based healthcare in Africa

Effect of Leadership in Strategic Planning on Performance of Faith Based Health Care Institutions in Meru County, Kenya

The primary objective of this study was to investigate the impact of strategic planning drivers on the performance of faith-based healthcare institutions in Meru County, Kenya. There were four specific objectives: to assess the influence of leadership in strategic planning, environmental scanning, stakeholder involvement, and the strategic planning formulation process on the performance of faith-based healthcare institutions in Meru County, Kenya. The research drew upon the Strategic Fit Theory, Porter's Competitive Advantage Theory, and Institutional Theory. Adopting a descriptive research design, the study targeted 421 employees across 23 faith-based healthcare institutions in Meru County. Using Yamane's formula for categorical data, the study focused on a sample size of 205 respondents. Quantitative data was collected through questionnaires distributed to respondents using a drop-and-pick method, while qualitative data was gathered from hospital administrators using an interview guide. The study employed frequencies, means, and standard deviation to present descriptive results. For inferential statistics, correlation analysis, regression analysis, and analysis of variance were used. The study's results revealed a positive and significant correlation between leadership, environmental scanning, stakeholder involvement, the strategy formulation process, and the organizational performance of faith-based healthcare institutions in Meru County. Regression analysis indicated that strategic planning drivers accounted for 59.5% of the variance in organizational performance. The study found that stakeholder involvement did not exert a significant influence on the performance of faith-based healthcare institutions. As a recommendation, the study suggests that faith-based healthcare institutions should enhance their strategic planning by strengthening collaborations with stakeholders, improving resource mobilization, evaluating threats and opportunities, and involving employees in the strategic planning formulation process. Additionally, the study recommends further research to assess the impact of the internal organizational environment on the performance of faith-based healthcare institutions in other counties in Kenya. Policymakers in faith-based organizations are encouraged to support individual organizations in developing strategic management guidelines that promote regulation and control.

The Growing Presence of Faith-Based Hospitals in California Restricts Access to Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare

Sexual and reproductive healthcare restrictions imposed by faith-based hospitals prevent women, sexual minorities, and gender minorities from accessing the full range of comprehensive healthcare. The share of faith-based hospitals in California has increased rapidly in recent years, but no analysis has been completed to understand their distribution and rate of growth. In this paper, we calculate the percentage of religiously affiliated acute, short-term hospital beds per California county. We find that faith-based hospitals have a majority market share in 17 out of 58 California counties. Furthermore, while the percentage of faith-based hospitals in these counties has remained relatively stable from 2000-2010, this proportion has increased tenfold in the past decade. Our data suggest that the expansion of faith-based healthcare systems in California presents a significant barrier to sexual and reproductive healthcare access.

McLeod’sConscience in Reproductive Health Careand Its Relationship to Reproductive Freedom and Faith-Based Healthcare

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Psalm body help us: Hearing the lament of health care professionals

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to burdensome moral distress for health care professionals in the United States. Despite being initially hailed as “heroes” by the American public, health care professionals have encountered unique barriers to healing in the context of the devastating pandemic. Unfortunately, the health care system was ill-equipped to deal with the dramatic surge in moral distress caused by the pandemic. The church, and faith-based health care systems, can play a crucial role for hearing the lament of morally distressed health care professionals and attending to them as a community toward moral reintegration. We suggest that the Psalms offer an entry point both for those who need to express their lament of moral distress and those who accompany health care professionals in seeking structural changes, advocating for needed resources for patient care, and attaining the important goal of spiritual healing.

Toxic Leadership and Organizational Commitment in Faith-Based Healthcare Organizations

In response to increasing cultural diversity at faith-based healthcare organizations, sincere, responsive, and sensitive leadership is critical to ensuring the organizational commitment of African American employees. Research was lacking on the relationship between toxic leadership and organizational commitment within faith-based healthcare settings. Further, little research existed on the ways toxic leadership affects the organizational commitment of African American workers. The purpose of this quantitative, non-experimental, correlational study was to examine the relationship between toxic leadership and organizational commitment among African American employees of faith-based healthcare organizations. This study's theoretical framework was based on Schmidt's toxic leadership theory and Allen and Meyer's organizational commitment theory. The variables for this study included toxic leadership and organizational commitment, categorized as affective, continuance, or normative commitment. The sample consisted of 84 African American employees of faith-based healthcare organizations working in Central Florida. Data were collected via an online survey consisting of the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire and Schmidt's Toxic Leadership Scale. The analysis consisted of three correlation tests to examine the relationship between (a) toxic leadership and (b) organizational commitment scales (affective, continuance, and normative). Results of the Spearman correlations indicated no statistically significant associations between toxic leadership and affective commitment or normative commitment. There was a significant, inverse association between toxic leadership and continuance commitment. Although more research is needed to understand toxic leadership and organizational commitment in faith-based facilities, the current study provides a foundation for future investigations.
 Keywords: Healthcare, Faith-based Healthcare, Organizational Commitment, Toxic Leadership

How a Faith-Based Healthcare Organization Is Turning the Tide of Environmental Impact.

The healthcare sector's role in every community is inextricably linked to the health of those it serves. As research and media reports point to the significant impact of people on our planet's ecosystems, Ascension has responded by setting several environmental sustainability goals. Our work is defined by three pillars: Net Zero Places focuses on carbon sources associated with Ascension's physical environments-carbon footprint, operational efficiency of facilities, and sustainable transportation.Responsible Supply Chain focuses on the flow of goods from procurement to disposition-responsible purchasing, product usage management, recycling, and waste management.Healthy Communities focuses on the relationship between sustainability and social determinants of health (SDOH)-linking determinants to Ascension's mission to sustain and improve the health of those we serve, especially the poor and vulnerable. When we think about future generations, we realize that this work cannot wait. That is why we are reimagining today what environmental impact and sustainability could look like through the next decade and beyond. We are setting our corporate sights on net zero carbon and zero waste by 2040 and encourage other healthcare organizations to join us in these efforts. Working together, we can make a difference.

The Role of the Biotechnology Industry in Addressing Health Inequities in Africa: Strengthening the Entire Health Care Value Chain

There are many misconceptions surrounding health care in Africa, a continent of 54 sovereign countries and a population exceeding 1.2 billion souls which is growing at the fastest rate in the world. Enormous diversity has direct impact on the notion, practices, and availability of health care on the continent. There are no satisfactory generalizations about the state of health and the strength of health care systems for the continent as a whole. Indeed, differences between neighboring countries are enormous, as well as among population groups within countries. There is a significant mix of public, private, and faith-based health care providers. In most African countries, 60 percent of health providers fall into the latter two categories (IFC, 2008). Moreover, movements towards national and private risk pooling for payment of health care are underway in only a few countries, but virtually all modern African constitutions declare health care as a human right and aspire to some form of Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Despite these principles, Africans endure a dual burden of communicable and non-communicable disease. In the face of these challenges, Africans are confronted with out-of-pocket payment for health services – when it is available at all – and challenging logistics for accessing and maintaining consistency of care. The patient journey for Africans is a winding path, often exacerbated by an additional reliance on the importation of talent, pharmaceuticals and vaccines, medical and diagnostic tools, and digital support of the health systems. The health care value chain in Africa is incomplete. Each of Providers, Payers and Producers need further development. When any of these is weak or missing, there cannot be a sustainable health system. The issue, therefore, is not scientific or clinical competence; it is capacity and the necessity to promote a comprehensive and integrated health care ecosystem – including the Producer segment. To address the Producer link, more direct engagement by the global biopharmaceutical industry in assisting and investing in the advancement of indigenous laboratory and clinical development, product production and distribution, and the advancement of human capital necessary to achieve health care sovereignty for the continent is necessary. There is all the more reason to do so as humanity enters the age of genomic and precision medicine. There is a pathway for African health care to leapfrog as it has done in telecommunications.

Improving stroke care in Ghana: a roundtable discussion with communities, healthcare providers, policymakers and civil society organisations

Even though there have been advances in medical research and technology for acute stroke care treatment and management globally, stroke mortality has remained high, with a higher burden in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) such as Ghana. In Ghana, stroke mortality and disability rates are high, and research on post-stroke survival care is scarce. The available evidence suggests that Ghanaian stroke survivors and their caregivers seek treatment from pluralistic health care providers. However, no previous attempt has been made to bring them together to discuss issues around stroke care and rehabilitation. To address this challenge, researchers from the Institute of Advanced Studies, University College London, in collaboration with researchers from the African Centre of Excellence for Non-communicable diseases (ACE-NCDs), University of Ghana, organised a one-day roundtable to discuss issues around stroke care. The purpose of the roundtable was fourfold. First, to initiate discussion/collaborations among biomedical, ethnomedical and faith-based healthcare providers and stroke patients and their caregivers around stroke care. Second, to facilitate discussion on experiences with stroke care. Third, to understand the healthcare providers’, health systems’, and stroke survivors’ needs to enhance stroke care in Ghana. Finally, to define practical ways to improve stroke care in Ghana.

Medical assistance in dying (MAiD) in Canada: practical aspects for healthcare teams.

In this paper we document some of the practical aspects of implementing medical assistance in dying (MAiD) since it became legal in Canada in 2016. The percentage of annual deaths in Canada due to MAiD varies widely, ranging from less than 0.5% in some areas to over 5% in others. By the end of 2019, approximately 13,000 people had an assisted death in Canada (1.6% of all deaths). The average age is 73 years and the majority have cancer (64%), followed by end-stage organ failure (17%), and neurological disease (11%). The safeguards in Canadian law include having two witnesses sign the patient request form, having two independent clinicians agree that the patient is eligible, and requiring a 10-day waiting period after the request is made. Although the criminal law is federal and applies throughout the nation, health services managed provincially, and there are many different models of care being used. Some provinces have standardized prescriptions and procedures for assisted dying with centralized care coordinators supporting both patients and providers. Other provinces expect individual providers to manage all aspects of assisted dying. The procedure and medications are provided free of charge to patients, but it took years before many providers were remunerated for their services. Access for patients has been a problem because there are too few providers of care (especially in rural areas), and many people have difficulty getting accurate information about the process. Many faith-based health care facilities continue to refuse to allow assisted dying within their facilities, so patients requesting MAiD need to be transferred to other locations in their last hours of life. Solutions to these problems have included the development of more training and support for providers and the creation of coordinating centres that provide information and support for patients throughout the process. Telemedicine is used for assessment of eligibility when required, especially during the COVID pandemic. There are similarities in problems of access to all end of life care options, including palliative care and residential hospices. The relationships between providers of assisted dying and specialists in palliative care vary, and examples exist throughout the spectrum from collegial to hostile. This is slowly improving, as individual clinicians gain more experience with patients choosing assisted dying. Public culture is changing as there are more conversations occurring about death and dying.

Should Institutional Conscientious Objection to Assisted Dying be Accommodated?

The contentious, topical debate about whether faith-based health care organizations should be granted accommodation on the basis of institutional conscientious objection to medical assistance is dying (MAiD) is addressed through a comparative analysis of arguments on both sides of the issue that references such relevant considerations as: claimed ‘moral-authority’, competing rights-based claims, obligations arising from patient welfare principles, formal justice, dissimilarity in consequences, and two illustrative arguments from analogy. The analysis leads to the conclusion that nonconditional accommodation on the basis of institutional conscientious objection to MAiD is not ethically acceptable in Canada. A compromise mechanism, consisting of a suggested set of pragmatic conditions, is proposed that could effectively balance the competing moral responsibilities that arise from this conclusion and a core assumption of the paper, i.e., that some dominant faith-based health institutions can legitimately request, and expect, that provincial/territorial governments pay them a measure of respect in their operational, health-care-delivery decision making because of these institutions’ long history of providing high quality, health care in Canada. It is further suggested that provincial/territorial governments only allow large, publicly funded, faith-based health care organizations to enact a conditional version of accommodation on the basis of institutional conscientious objection to MAiD in circumstances where the organization has entered into a formal agreement with the relevant health department to meet the proposed, compromise conditions (or a relevantly-similar set of conditions).

How Christian pharmacists can maximize their potentials in healthcare delivery: Adopting the prayer, faith, and action model

In the absence of scientific breakthrough, patients search for solutions beyond science in the quest for good health. This is because spirituality greatly influences therapeutic outcomes and healthcare delivery. Healthcare providers must confront the dual needs of their patients; spiritual and health. Christian pharmacists can have an integral role to play in addressing these needs by means of a specialized focus on Christian faith. In this paper, we propose a Prayer, Faith, and Action Model for pharmacists who desire faith-based healthcare delivery in their professional settings. This model is worth adopting if Christian pharmacists want to maximize their potential in the course of healthcare delivery.

Sustainability and inclusiveness in a competitive market: A study of faith-based hospitals in India

Introduction: The Christian Healthcare Network is the largest faith-based healthcare network in India, functioning, most often, in the hard-to-reach and underdeveloped areas. It is facing serious challenges such as being forced to comply with the recent changes in government regulations, policies, and globalized market situations. Such changes in the social and financial environment are driving hospitals to adopt newer strategies to remain sustainable. Some of the mission hospitals are compromising their mission goals for which they were founded. If financial viability becomes the goal, social responsibility to the community and the true meaning of mission gets distorted. Their mission must remain the primary belief system, which legitimizes the structural arrangements and ideology of business. Mission and business must go hand-in-hand. Methods: An embedded case study method was used to purposively study 16 selected cases of Christian faith-based hospitals (FBHs) pan India with the objective to understand the nature of services employed, the role played by FBHs in India in different contexts, their challenges in the changing business environment, and how successful they were in remaining both sustainable and inclusive at the same time. Results: The study found that despite the variation in the services and infrastructure of mission hospitals across India, these facilities have had an on-going commitment and a long-standing operation with regard to population health. In their different settings, they are either the only service provider or the referral centre for the public facilities and the trusted choice of the middle- and lower-middle class population. The least sustainable and inclusive among them seem to have deviated from their founding objectives due to market changes, but more than a quarter of them were successful in remaining inclusive and sustainable. In pursuit of competitive advantages, some of them remained sustainable by dropping their inclusiveness, while a few ended up in existential crisis because of their adhesiveness to inclusivism. The challenges of attracting professionals, generating funds for development, and operating within the ethical boundaries set by the church are well addressed by the models which are sustainable and inclusive. Conclusion: In the context of drastic changes in both internal and external environments, some of the FBHs lost their business, some lost their mission and a few got corporatized. But a few remain successful in terms of inclusiveness and sustainability by innovative strategies.

Values as Vessels of Religion?

This paper investigates if and how religion is translated through values in everyday work in three Norwegian faith-based healthcare organizations (FBHOs). It provides insights into how values translate religion in the organizational self-representations of FBHOs and the symbolic practices of executives. Further, we analyze the use of values in organizational policy documents and the role of values as a common ground for framing and interpreting organizational and professional practices. We discuss the contributions of values toward maintaining religious traditions. This study identifies ways in which values translate and express the presence of religion while highlighting the shortcomings of their potential role in mediating religion.