History and origin: The idea of healing through faith is not new. Within most formal religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—some form of prayer has evolved as a means of communicating with a deity or spiritual being whom the faithful believe has the power to heal and provide physical and mental solace during challenging times. Spirituality, or a strong belief in a higher power, can also exist outside the boundaries of formal religion, and in this case, prayer is often a communication with a higher force or energy that has powers beyond those of humans. An illness such as cancer is a powerful life event that often makes people face mortality and question the purpose and meaning of life. In many instances, this questioning leads them to prayer, spiritual growth, and a positive outlook, which helps them cope. This increased ability to cope as a result of prayer can be very helpful for patients dealing with cancer and its debilitating effects, even though it cannot cure the disease.
Scientific evidence for the mind-body connection: A growing body of research indicates that the mind exerts a powerful influence on the way a body responds to trauma and stress. Cancer creates a substantial amount of stress in the body, which in turn can be detrimental to the recovery process. Analysis of data from an online support group of breast cancer patients revealed that those who prayed or meditated had a more positive mental outlook and seemed to be more in control of their situation. Doctors have found that patients with advanced cancer who believe in and practice prayer and meditation cope well with the trauma from the disease and are often able to find meaning in their experience.
Scientific evidence for the use of prayer alone in cancer therapy is not conclusive; however, many positive outcomes have been observed when it is used as an adjunct to conventional medical treatment. Studies on the positive correlation between prayer and recovery of patients with a strong faith in prayer have suggested that it may help speed up the recovery process. About one-third of advanced-stage cancer patients use prayer and spiritual healing to improve symptoms, survival, or likelihood of cure and also seek other complementary and alternative medicine approaches, according to a 2011 study in Psychooncology. A 2010 study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology reported that when advanced-stage cancer patients' medical teams addressed their spiritual needs, patients were more likely to use hospice and those who were highly religious requested less aggressive end-of-life treatments. Therefore, for patients with a strong faith, the integration of spiritual practices into their medical care can be overall very beneficial to them.
Integrating prayer in medical care: For many years the medical community believed that there was no correlation whatsoever between spirituality and medicine. However, some physicians are beginning to acknowledge the existence of the mind-body connection in recovery, and a number of medical schools in the United States include a spirituality and prayer component in their medical curriculum as part of a complementary, adjunct strategy. Some hospitals include a spiritual representative as part of the patient’s cancer care team. Prayer and spirituality are an integral part of the lives of many cancer patients, and they also play an important role in dealing with issues of dying and death. Many medical institutions and physicians respect their patients’ religious beliefs and help them incorporate them into their treatment regimen.
Mechanics of integrating prayer: Prayer can be practiced in many different ways—alone or in a group, spoken silently or aloud or with the accompaniment of music, with or without affiliation with any religion. Many cancer support groups use standard forms of prayer composed by religious leaders to pray for cancer patients. In addition, many hospitals have prayer rooms and contracts with clergy from various religious organizations to cater and minister to their patients’ spiritual needs.
If faith plays a very important role in the life of a cancer patient and is not acknowledged by the care team while making decisions for treatment, conflicts can arise and channels of communication can be closed, resulting in a stressful situation that could be detrimental to the patient’s health. When physicians inquire about and acknowledge a patient’s spiritual beliefs in a nonjudgmental, sensitive manner, they set the stage for open communication and better decision making.
However, prayer should never be forced on patients, and spiritual practices should be incorporated into the treatment regimen only with their consent. On occasions when patients want to use prayer alone for their recovery and refuse or want to delay conventional medical treatment, it is the responsibility of the medical staff to explain the risks and serious health consequences involved in delaying or refusing treatment while simultaneously acknowledging the patient’s religious beliefs respectfully.
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"Spirituality in Cancer Care." Cancer.gov. Natl. Cancer Inst., Natl. Inst. of Health, 3 July 2014. Web. 29 Oct. 2014.
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