Researchers Develop New Approach to Exploring the Intersection of Religion and Medicine

An interdisciplinary team of researchers has developed a novel research model to enhance investigation conducted at the intersection of religion and medicine

The Church and Academia Model is a non-denominational framework designed to help produce and validate high quality research. The researchers developed the model after recognizing the lack of process for these two practices, the need for unified terminology and the absence of a dedicated instrument to measure prayer practices in chronic pain.

The model was used to develop PPRAYERS, a psychometric instrument for measuring pain-related prayer. After identifying an unmet need, the team then followed the knowledge to action cycle outlined in the framework to gather data and validate the research.

“Anyone can adapt this model to explore the potential impact of religion, spirituality and health, including devotional practices,” says Benjamin Doolittle, MD, MDiv, director of the Yale Program for Medicine, Spirituality, and Religion at Yale School of Medicine (YSM), and senior author of the paper.

The idea for the collaborative came about in 2018 from a seminar co-taught by Doolittle, professor of medicine (general medicine), and professor of religion and health at Yale Divinity School (YDS). Marta Illueca, MD, MDiv, MSc, ‘18 YDS, enrolled in the seminar, her first formal academic course on religion and medicine.

As both physicians and ordained clergy, Illueca and Doolittle connected and brainstormed about future work. She later asked him to collaborate on her thesis project for her Master’s Degree on Pain Research, Education and Policy, focusing on the use of prayer in the management of pain.

Recognizing the gap in research design, they sought out additional collaborators to create a model for validating research. From initial study design to interpretation and implementation of the results, the model is a six-step process for bringing together two disparate fields of inquiry.

“Integrative health is an area that is looking into complementary approaches to disease,” says Illueca, first author. “And if we want serious research to continue in the intersection of religion and medicine, investigators need to know how to do it in a rigorous way.”

Doolittle says the two sectors are isolated in their own communities and notes how partnering on this project felt like building a bridge. “The Church and Academia Model recognizes that the church and the academy need each other,” he says. “We need more bridges across these communities because that’s where great ideas come from.”

Each group's challenges are symbiotic, according to Doolittle, who notes that academia typically does not have roots in the community, whereas the church does. Contrarily, the church often lacks the financial resources to address its difficulties in scientific inquiry, but for academia these challenges are not seen as often.

While some may think the two worlds are very different, Doolittle emphasizes how intertwined and similar they are, and how this relationship is the basis for the Yale Program for Medicine, Spirituality, and Religion. The program serves as a place to exchange ideas across religious organizations and academics and explore how the worlds of medicine and religion impact one another.

“The place where psychology and medicine meet is wonder,” Doolittle says. “How that wonder gets expressed is human flourishing.”

The team hopes to disseminate the new research model and create a living network with other programs and institutions around the country.

Other authors include: Samantha Meints, PhD; Megan Miller, PhD; and Dikachi Osaji, MD.

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