Connectedness Evaluation: Developing a Spiritual Health Tool for Treating Depression
Sarah E. Koss, B.A.(Hons), Master of Divinity Student,Harvard Divinity School
Recent evidence suggests anti-depressant medications are significantly over-prescribed. While necessary in some cases, many doctors are choosing to immediately prescribe anti-depressant medications instead of exploring other options with patients. This may be occurring because appointments are time-sensitive and it is quicker to write a prescription, or because doctors feel they lack alternative tools to provide patients. In response to this problem, and inspired by last year’s Conference on Medicine and Religion, we are currently developing a tool that can act as an alternative to, or in conjunction with, anti-depressant medications in some cases. The tool, called a “Connectedness Evaluation,” considers spiritual health a human necessity, especially when spirituality is defined as “a feeling of Connectedness to something greater than oneself, experienced through cultivating a relationship with oneself, one’s community, one’s environment, and one’s perception of the transcendent.”
Current health research supports this idea, as all four Connectedness relationships have been shown to positively impact human health in separate studies. In addition, while all four relationships were automatically cultivated during normal daily activities for most of human existence, the advance of technology and cities now means we must actively seek opportunities to cultivate these four Connectedness relationships. Conducting a “Connectedness Evaluation” allows us to assess how we have previously cultivated these relationships in the past, compared to how we currently cultivate them in the present, compared to how we would ideally like to cultivate them in the future. Through framing our lives in this way, it is possible to quickly see how our routines have shifted—likely away from what is optimal for well-being—and to simultaneously recognize options for righting that balance. Although still in the preliminary phase of development and testing, one of the authors—a Primary Care Physician (PCP)—has seen qualitatively positive results with multiple patients indicating first-time depression symptoms.
Currently balancing between the theoretical and empirical, and still a work-in-progress, this proposed paper session aims to educate colleagues on our current progress, present further preliminary results currently being collected through the PCP’s medical practice, and gain feedback for further development and analysis of the Connectedness Evaluation.
Recent evidence suggests anti-depressant medications are significantly over-prescribed. While necessary in some cases, many doctors are choosing to immediately prescribe anti-depressant medications instead of exploring other options with patients. This may be occurring because appointments are time-sensitive and it is quicker to write a prescription, or because doctors feel they lack alternative tools to provide patients. In response to this problem, and inspired by last year’s Conference on Medicine and Religion, we are currently developing a tool that can act as an alternative to, or in conjunction with, anti-depressant medications in some cases. The tool, called a “Connectedness Evaluation,” considers spiritual health a human necessity, especially when spirituality is defined as “a feeling of Connectedness to something greater than oneself, experienced through cultivating a relationship with oneself, one’s community, one’s environment, and one’s perception of the transcendent.”
Current health research supports this idea, as all four Connectedness relationships have been shown to positively impact human health in separate studies. In addition, while all four relationships were automatically cultivated during normal daily activities for most of human existence, the advance of technology and cities now means we must actively seek opportunities to cultivate these four Connectedness relationships. Conducting a “Connectedness Evaluation” allows us to assess how we have previously cultivated these relationships in the past, compared to how we currently cultivate them in the present, compared to how we would ideally like to cultivate them in the future. Through framing our lives in this way, it is possible to quickly see how our routines have shifted—likely away from what is optimal for well-being—and to simultaneously recognize options for righting that balance. Although still in the preliminary phase of development and testing, one of the authors—a Primary Care Physician (PCP)—has seen qualitatively positive results with multiple patients indicating first-time depression symptoms.
Currently balancing between the theoretical and empirical, and still a work-in-progress, this proposed paper session aims to educate colleagues on our current progress, present further preliminary results currently being collected through the PCP’s medical practice, and gain feedback for further development and analysis of the Connectedness Evaluation.