Abstract

Health care professionals who endeavour to work holistically face a number of questions about spirituality. What is meant by `spirituality' as opposed to `religion'? What is its specific relevance to health care practice?

This accessible book provides answers to these questions and offers a model for personal and professional development. Gillian White sets out a framework within which health care professionals can discuss spirituality and equip themselves to respond appropriately to the spiritual concerns of their patient in daily practice. She draws on her experience of sharing and discussing spirituality and spiritual care with other health care professionals and proposes that multi-professional health care teams should talk about spirituality in challenging but safe environments to develop shared understanding of it, and to increase their confidence about integrating spiritual care into their daily practise.

This text is a useful contribution to the multi-disciplinary, whole-person approach in health care and will be of interest to all health care professionals, nursing staff and students in these fields.

Gillian White has been practising as a dietician since 1980 and is currently Acting Clinical Director of dietetics and nutrition at Nottingham City Hospital Trust. She also has a doctorate in philosophy. Gillian lives in a village in Derbyshire, UK.
In many ways this book is best described as an "exploration". The author on her experience of working within health care to share and develop her experience and understanding of the importance of spirituality as an integral part of delivering effective health care...This is not a religious book, or a book written to explore specific differences in belief and spiritual practice. But for a multi-disciplinary team interested in reflecting on what spirituality means to them as individuals and in the context of their health care roles, it provides much to drawn upon.
Richard Bryant-Jefferies, head of Equalities and Diversity, CNWL NHS Foundation Trust
This is a well-written and useful book and I recommend it to all who have an interest in spirituality in health care... What comes through very clearly in eight relatively short chapters is a deep experiential knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of British health care, and a real commitment to the well-being, defined in its broadest sense, of patients, clients and service users... Gillian White makes a valuable contribution to the literature on spirituality in health care practice, and complements the growing catalogue of Jessica Kingsley Publishers' related titles.
The Journal of Interprofessional Care
To ask questions about spirituality is to delve into the heart of what it means to be human. What marks this book out from many others is the way it charts, and comments upon, the journey taken by a multi-professional health care team which took the risk of exploring this rich theme in a structured, disciplined way. Spirituality is not an easy concept to define or to explore, but this book makes a strong case for taking the risk. White offers suggestions for other professionals who wish to make a similar journey. It promises to be equally rewarding.
Community Care
Gillian White's PhD thesis into how people learn about spirituality, offers many rich insights... a useful evidence-based contribution to the burgeoning field of spirituality and health literature.
Nursing Standard