In a 1994 Gallup survey, 94 percent of patients said that their spiritual health was as important as their physical health, and 77 percent felt that physicians should consider their spiritual needs. At the same time, a growing body of research supports th e measurable healing effects of faith and spirituality.
In response to these concerns, the School of Nursing (YSN) is launching a new spirituality, healing and health care curriculum this fall, which is designed to train health and pastoral professionals to care for people in a way that acknowledges the connection between the physical and spiritual.
YSN, the Divinity School and Yale-New Haven Hospital are collaborating on the new curriculum, which is based on the premise that appreciation of a patient's spiritual beliefs is an essential component in the provision of the highest quality health c are possible. The project is supported by grants from The Teagle Foundation, Inc. and the John Templeton Foundation.
As part of this initiative, YSN is offering "Spirituality and Health Care," a graduate course designed for students at the YSN, the School of Medicine and the Divinity School. The course will be taught by Ann Ameling, professor of nursing, and the Reverend Margaret Edgerly, director of religious ministries at Yale-New Haven Hospital.
Also this fall, as part of its multicultural curriculum, YSN is offering "Alternative and Complementary Therapies." The final components in the curriculum will be "Living With Dying," a course examining the needs of terminal patients and their famil ies, and a clinical practicum where students will work under the supervision of an experienced provider to use spiritual assessment and spiritually based practices in direct patient care. The latter will be offered in the fall of 1999 and spring of 2000.
In the spring semester of 2000, YSN will also host a symposium of leading authorities in spirituality and health care, which will be open to the entire Yale community.
Students interested in enrolling in "Spirituality and Health Care" or "Alternative and Complementary Therapies" should call Ameling at 737-1791.