ABSTRACT
The relationship of healing to spirituality has been both long and varied. The roots of medicine are deeply imbedded in spirituality, with spiritual leaders being some of the earliest 'healers.' Recently there has been a shift of both public and professional sentiment toward the inclusion of spirituality in the practice of medicine. Much of the new interest in the relationship of spirituality and medicine has been the result of a group of physicians who have insisted that medical research shows religion to be a benefit not a hindrance to health. The medical research can be broken down into three major categories: religion and mental health, religion and physical disorders, and religion and the use of health services. When thinking about the interface of medicine and spirituality it appears that the basic need is for a model of integration that encourages physicians to treat the patient as a whole person, addressing physical issues, social, emotional, and spiritual issues.
