Open AccessConsidering religion and spirituality in precision medicine
Author(s) -
Karen Yeary,
Kassandra I. Alcaraz,
Kimlin Tam Ashing,
Chung-Yi Chiu,
Shan M. Christy,
Katarina Friberg Felsted,
Qian Lü,
Crystal Y. Lumpkins,
Kevin S. Masters,
Robert L. Newton,
Crystal L. Park,
Megan Johnson Shen,
Valerie Silfee,
Betina R. Yanez,
Jean C. Yi
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
translational behavioral medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.819
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1869-6716
pISSN - 1613-9860
DOI - 10.1093/tbm/ibz105
Subject(s) - spirituality , health psychology , salience (neuroscience) , context (archaeology) , affect (linguistics) , psychology , health care , value (mathematics) , population health , public health , applied psychology , alternative medicine , medicine , social psychology , nursing , political science , cognitive psychology , computer science , paleontology , communication , pathology , machine learning , law , biology
The emerging era of precision medicine (PM) holds great promise for patient care by considering individual, environmental, and lifestyle factors to optimize treatment. Context is centrally important to PM, yet, to date, little attention has been given to the unique context of religion and spirituality (R/S) and their applicability to PM. R/S can support and reinforce health beliefs and behaviors that affect health outcomes. The purpose of this article is to discuss how R/S can be considered in PM at multiple levels of context and recommend strategies for integrating R/S in PM. We conducted a descriptive, integrative literature review of R/S at the individual, institutional, and societal levels, with the aim of focusing on R/S factors with a high level of salience to PM. We discuss the utility of considering R/S in the suitability and uptake of PM prevention and treatment strategies by providing specific examples of how R/S influences health beliefs and practices at each level. We also propose future directions in research and practice to foster greater understanding and integration of R/S to enhance the acceptability and patient responsiveness of PM research approaches and clinical practices. Elucidating the context of R/S and its value to PM can advance efforts toward a more whole-person and patient-centered approach to improve individual and population health.