ETIOLOGY RECAPITULATES ONTOLOGY: Reflections on Restoring the Spiritual Dimension to Models of the Determinants ofHealth

This paper addresses theoretical issues related to the restoration of spirituality to models of the determinants of health and illness. It is asserted that models of etiology and disease causation necessarily reflect prevailing understandings of the nature of human life. Allopathic biomedicine, for example, is an inevitable product of materialistic and mechanistic views of what it means to be human; likewise, psychosomatic medicine emerged only among scientists and healers who accepted the mind as real. For a true body-mind-spirit perspective to prevail in medicine will require evidence of the reality and salutogenic salience of expressions or manifestations of a human spiritual dimension. As this paper describes, such evidence already exists in the form of empirical research findings from epidemiology, psychophysiology, and clinical medicine. Due to the rise of normal science within this emerging area of research, however, proponents of a body-mind-spirit paradigm are meeting with considerable resistance, ironically, from many of the putative leaders of the religion, spirituality, and health field. The shift to a new paradigm will only come once scientists and practitioners succeed in breaking free of the control of established medical and scientific institutions

FROM PSYCHOSOMATIC TO THEOSOMATIC: THE ROLE OF SPIRIT IN THE NEXT NEW PARADIGM

The body-mind revolution of the past four decades has had considerable impact on biomedical science, health research, and the practice of medicine. This psychosomatic approach, however, is not so much the "new paradigm" that is often heralded, as rather a transitionary perspective to a more comprehensive worldview that is beginning to emerge in biomedical discourse. The science and medicine of the 21st Century will be informed by a body-mind-spirit perspective that acknowledges the influence of God or Spirit on the functioning of the physical vehicle and its subtle emanations and fields. Such a theosornaric medicine will be a real new paradigm which promises to transform the practice of medicine, the content of biomedical research, and our understanding of disease prevention, health, and healing

ETIOLOGY RECAPITULATES ONTOLOGY: Reflections on Restoring the Spiritual Dimension to Models of the Determinants ofHealth

This paper addresses theoretical issues related to the restoration of spirituality to models of the determinants of health and illness. It is asserted that models of etiology and disease causation necessarily reflect prevailing understandings of the nature of human life. Allopathic biomedicine, for example, is an inevitable product of materialistic and mechanistic views of what it means to be human; likewise, psychosomatic medicine emerged only among scientists and healers who accepted the mind as real. For a true body-mind-spirit perspective to prevail in medicine will require evidence of the reality and salutogenic salience of expressions or manifestations of a human spiritual dimension. As this paper describes, such evidence already exists in the form of empirical research findings from epidemiology, psychophysiology, and clinical medicine. Due to the rise of normal science within this emerging area of research, however, proponents of a body-mind-spirit paradigm are meeting with considerable resistance, ironically, from many of the putative leaders of the religion, spirituality, and health field. The shift to a new paradigm will only come once scientists and practitioners succeed in breaking free of the control of established medical and scientific institutions

The challenges of epidemiologic translation: communicating with physicians, policymakers, and the public

Translational epidemiology refers to the practical application of population-health research findings to efforts addressing health disparities and other public health issues. A principal focus of epidemiologic translation is on the communication of results to constituencies who can best make use of this information to effect positive health-related change. Indeed, it is contended that findings from epidemiologic research are of greatest use only if adequately communicated to health professionals, legislators and policymakers, and the public. This paper details the challenges faced by efforts to communicate findings to the these constituencies, especially three types of miscommunication that can derail efforts at translation. These include perceived misinformation, perceived disinformation, and perceived censorship. Epidemiologists are ethically obliged to avoid these types of miscommunication, and, accordingly, are advised to place greater emphasis on messaging and media outreach to physicians, government officials, medical educators, and the general public

BODY, MIND, AND ELMER

Letter

Religious Observance and Well-Being among Israeli Jewish Adults: Findings from the Israel Social Survey

Abstract: This study reports on analyses of Jewish respondents (N = 6,056) from the 2009 Israel Social Survey. Multivariable methods were used to investigate whether religiously observant Jews have greater physical and psychological well-being. After adjustment for age and other sociodemographic correlates of religion and well-being and for a measure of Israeli Jewish religious identity (i.e., secular, traditional, religious, ultra-Orthodox), two findings stand out. First, greater Jewish religious observance is significantly associated with higher scores on indicators of self-rated health, functional health, and life satisfaction. Second, there is a gradient-like trend such that greater religiousness and life satisfaction are observed as one moves "rightward" across religious identity categories. These findings withstand adjustment for effects of all covariates, including Israeli nativity and Jewish religious identity

Information Privacy Management: Proactive vs. Reactive Approaches

Information privacy is an important information management issue that continues to challenge managers, policy makers, and researchers. Although we have investigated information privacy concerns at individual and national levels, there remains a significant gap in our understanding of the costs and benefits accruing to the organization when it does—or does not—develop business processes to protect customer and employee information. This panel focuses on the organization in the privacy equation, asking, “Is it possible to successfully institutionalize good privacy practices? Can organizations prevent privacy disasters?

Mental health supportive services during COVID-19: Proposing an online, self-guided Acceptance and Commitment Therapy program for parents in the disability community

Parents of Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) often experience stress, and the COVID-19 pandemic has likely increased their stress. In the current paper, we describe four things. First, we describe how mental telehealth treatments can effectively decrease parent stress, including programs that target behavior training and those that provide therapy. Teleheath programs are delivered by phone, computer, or fully online. Second, we describe challenges of these programs and explain how online, self-guided programs may help address these challenges. Third, we explain our online, self-guided program based in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). ACT is a specific type of therapy that helps people notice their moods and their thoughts to help manage stress. Finally, we conclude by proposing a call for collaboration to improve and expand our online, self-guided, ACT program

Information Privacy: Management, Marketplace, and Legal Challenges

A panel at ICIS 2004 in Washington, D.C. explored many of the information privacy issues facing management in a post 9/11 environment. The panel was composed of privacy scholars, regulators, and practitioners. The panelists examined privacy disasters as a way of exposing these management challenges, discussed government and self-regulatory approaches to information privacy, and raised opportunities for research. This paper extends and deepens the examination begun at the panel and the discussions of issues raised by the audience during the question and answer session. In addition, a list of research questions is offered. The panelists provided key privacy information sources. A privacy bibliography is included

Theory in religion, aging, and health: an overview

Abstract This paper provides an overview of theory in religion, aging, and health. It offers both a primer on theory and a roadmap for researchers. Four ''tenses'' of theory are described-distinct ways that theory comes into play in this field: grand theory, mid-range theory, use of theoretical models, and positing of constructs which mediate or moderate putative religious effects. Examples are given of both explicit and implicit uses of theory. Sources of theory for this field are then identified, emphasizing perspectives of sociologists and psychologists, and discussion is given to limitations of theory. Finally, reflections are offered as to why theory matters. Keywords Religion Á Spirituality Á Aging Á Health Á Theory All empirical research is theoretically based, whether explicitly or implicitly. Even in situations characterized by relatively simple and straightforward analyses, a theoretical perspective is nonetheless always present and underlies the statistical manipulation, acknowledged or not. In Wallace's (1969, pp. vii-viii) famous introduction to the uses of theory in the social sciences, he explained: [I]t does not seem to be the case that some sociological studies thoroughly implicate theory, while others are ''atheoretical'' and do not implicate theory at all; rather, all studies implicate theory, only some pay more deliberate, explicit, and formal attention to it while others pay more casual, implicit, informal attention. Theory, indeed, seems inescapable in sociology, as in every science