David B. Larson, MD, MSPH President, National Institute for Healthcare Research The National Institute for Healthcare Research, soon to be renamed the Institute for Spirituality and Health, is a private educational and research organization committed to exploring the relationship between spirituality and health in medicine and the social sciences.
Harold G. Koenig, MD Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine, Duke University Medical Center
ABSTRACT
Many studies have found that religious belief and practice have a positive effect on physical and mental health, although the topic needs more research. As religious beliefs may affect both health and health-promoting behavior, physicians should try to understand their patients' beliefs.