TY  - BOOK
AU  - Olver,Ian N.
ED  - SpringerLink (Online service)
TI  - Investigating Prayer: Impact on Health and Quality of Life 
SN  - 9781461445715
AV  - HN25 
U1  - 306 23
PY  - 2013///
CY  - New York, NY
PB  - Springer New York, Imprint: Springer
KW  - Social sciences
KW  - Religion
KW  - Philosophy
KW  - Complementary medicine
KW  - Medical research
KW  - Quality of life
KW  - Psychotherapy
KW  - Counseling
KW  - Health psychology
KW  - Social Sciences
KW  - Quality of Life Research
KW  - Health Psychology
KW  - Complementary & Alternative Medicine
KW  - Psychotherapy and Counseling
KW  - Philosophy of Religion
N1  - Chapter 1. What is Prayer and Why Study it? -- Chapter 2. Studies of Prayer as a Complementary Therapy -- Chapter 3. A Theological Reflection on Prayer -- Chapter 4. The Relationship Between Spiritual Wellbeing and Quality of Life -- Chapter 5. A Randomized Blinded Study of Intercessory Prayer in Patients with Cancer -- Chapter 6. The impact of the study on the trials team -- Chapter 7. Response to our Study of Prayer -- Chapter 8. What next?
N2  - From the ancients to the Renaissance, religion and medicine worked hand in hand to heal the people, until the scientific minds of the Enlightenment created a physical model of illness without a spiritual component. In this century, spirituality is gaining recognition as part of individuals’ psychological makeup and capacity for meaning-making, and gaining currency as part of holistic concepts of wellness despite resistance from many in the scientific community.   Prayer: Investigating Its Impact on Quality of Life brings science and spirituality together, pointing out thought-provoking parallels and asserting that each can enrich the other. At the book’s center is a detailed study of a randomized double-blinded trial that added intercessory prayer (i.e., prayer for others) to conventional cancer treatment, with findings relevant to conceptions of prayer as intervention. In addition, a review of salient medical literature (including complementary and alternative medical journals) contains both positive and negative studies, encouraging a vigorous dialogue about methodology, endpoints, and whether metaphysical phenomena can—or should—be studied using scientific methods. Among the topics covered:   ·       The role of spirituality in illness. ·       Prayer as complementary or alternative therapy. ·       The relationship between spiritual wellbeing and quality of life. ·       Instruments for assessing religious and spiritual belief. ·       A randomized blinded study of intercessory prayer in patients with cancer. ·       Possible directions for further research.   Prayer: Investigating Its Impact on Quality of Life should interest readers on all sides of the debate, including doctors, practitioners, psychologists, psychiatrists, and others involved in holistic treatment of patients
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4571-5
ER  -