Spirituality in Health Care Organizations

Spirituality has become part of business and many business organizations, and this development includes American health care and health care organizations (HCOs). At the industry level, health care is including more spirituality because the biomedical scientific model has loosened to accept more nonmedical humanistic values and practices. This has occurred because many patients want spirituality in health care, and research has supported its effectiveness. The Institute for the Future1 reported that spiritual factors promote health, recovery from illness, and general well-being, noting “the consistency and robustness of studies involving the role of spirituality in health care.” Human dramas and events occur in HCOs and raise deeply spiritual questions about birth, life, suffering, renewal, and death.2 Integrating spirituality in HCOs has sometimes fundamentally affected an organization’s mission, goals, products/services, structure, jobs, production processes, culture, and performance measures. Perhaps more than in most businesses, these organizational features and elements change when a health care business decides to embrace spirituality.