An increasing number of scientific articles include spirituality and religiosity as factors that generate wellbeing and help us recover from certain illnesses. Spirituality is part of the curriculum of many universities in Brazil and abroad. But how can that we include spirituality as part of the routine of treatment by healthcare professionals, especially when many in Brazil are poorly paid and have a reduced time for consultations.  

In the following interview, Dr Lawrence Garcia (photo) an orthopaedic surgeon and president of the Medical Spiritist Association of the city of Uberlândia (in Minas Gerais state), tell us about his experience setting up a spiritual support group to work with patients.

In which way is the treatment carried out at the support groups from the traditional treatment at the doctor’s practice?

One thing is to come into contact with the information and realise how important it is to mention spirituality and religiosity to your patients and the other is to put it into practice daily in your profession. Not everyone does that.  

And why does that happen?

There are many reasons. There’s the lack of time, with the routine you get used to, running up and down. You have to deal with the demands and complaints of patients and end up not asking him or her about their religious beliefs or if religiosity plays any par in the illness they are suffering from. As well as the lack of time and the problem with cost and pay, which account for a shorter consultation time with patients, you have the lack of knowledge from many and even the lack of will to deal with spiritual matters. What we need to understand is that, whatever the reason or justification, we will be incurring in negligence.

Is it easier to deal with spirituality in the support groups?

Yes, it is a lot easier and transdisciplinary. That is the great advantage of the support groups because it has a much more focused approach during the consultation. I am treating the patient, but I understand that I can’t provide all the treatment he or she needs. The support group provide for the patient’s other needs. That is very clear in preventative care and in mental health. We have a multidisciplinary team that meets on Tuesday and include a psychologist and psychiatrists and other specialists, who discuss the cases. We have a review every six months. And when we look back and see the progress we get really amazed. How did you manage to deal with so many issues and so many important aspects with the patient’s participation? We wouldn’t have had time to do it in the doctor’s practice.

Is it difficult to create groups like that?

It may seem difficult initially. But it is a lot easier than you imagine. There are many well qualified professionals who are interested in getting involved in that line of work, in spiritual debates. They are just waiting for an opportunity. The first thing we need is to be willing to spend the time to form the group. Eventually you will need more dedication. I remember that our group began with a doctor, a yoga instructor and we set down to watch talks by Spiritist speakers.

Do you have material available online to help people interested in setting up those support groups?

Yes, the material is there, available. The great advantage of starting up a group like that now is that all the training process is ready and available. We didn’t start by giving a lecture or talk to patients. We used to sit down with the patients and watch Spiritist talks on YouTube. At the end, we would ask questions and open a debate. It is very good to study spirituality with your patient. We learned a lot. We are now at a different stage, no longer in the backyard of a private house watching videos, but inside hospitals and working with the approval of hospital directors. The group now prepares the talk according to the needs of patients. The process of starting and developing a group is now much more enjoyable. I strongly recommend that those who haven’t yet started to develop support therapeutic groups in their clinics to take a chance and do it. It is important too that this is done outside Spiritist Centres, where a great number of patients would be excluded. When you build inter-religious dialogue without speaking specifically about religion, but working on spirituality, you add value, get people together and grow.

 
Translation: