Patient preference for physician prayer in medical situations

As medical issues present themselves in an individual’s life, some may resort to religion and spirituality. Because health care providers care for the individual, these practitioners need to be aware of the connections that occur within the realm of spirituality and medicine. The overall purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of physician use of prayer during medical visits in a sample of adults. Specifically, four research questions were examined: Overall, do patients want their physicians praying for them? Overall, do patients prefer a certain type of physician prayer (i.e., active, silent or physician distant intercessory prayer)? Does patient preference of the type of physician prayer depend on the medical situation? Medical situations included all medical visits, a routine office visit, a hospital visit, an emergency room visit, a surgical setting, and a terminal illness. Does worship attendance within the past year affect patient preference of physician prayer? It is important for physicians to be aware of any desire for prayer in the medical setting. In the ever-changing world of medicine, patients are looking for connections to their physicians and religion may play a role in this patient-physician relationship. Not only does religion provide a sense of hope and comfort in difficult situations, but can effectively enhance medical communication through a strengthened patient-physician bond. While prayer in medicine may seem like a foreign concept, it could potentially have its place in medicine, which will be examined and elaborated upon in this stud