A critical review of a spirituality intervention

Abstract

Although there is a growing interest in the topic of spirituality, there are few reports of spiritual interventions and limited empirical data to support their effectiveness. As health care practices become increasingly evidence based, the reliance on empirical data is critical. This article describes the spiritual intervention developed by the author and documents the testing of its effectiveness with clinical and nonclinical populations. The findings from a series of studies have been mixed. Preliminary studies reported that the intervention positively influenced patients' outcomes, including overall quality of life and reduced selected stress responses. Significant positive trends were found that supported the potential effectiveness of the intervention for a variety of populations and clinical settings. However, subsequent testing in clinical trials indicated limited effect of the intervention although there were several noteworthy findings. The author discusses the implications of these findings for future investigations.