Handbook of Religion and Health

The Handbook of Religion and Health has become the seminal research text on religion, spirituality, and health, outlining a rational argument for the connection between religion and health. The Second Edition completely revises and updates the first edition. Its authors are physicians: a psychiatrist and geriatrician, a primary care physician, and a professor of nursing and specialist in mental health nursing.

The Second Edition surveys the historical connections between religion and health and grapples with the distinction between the terms ''religion'' and ''spirituality'' in research and clinical practice. It reviews research on religion and mental health, as well as extensive research literature on the mind-body relationship, and develops a model to explain how religious involvement may impact physical health through the mind-body mechanisms. It also explores the direct relationships between religion and physical health, covering such topics as immune and endocrine function, heart disease, hypertension and stroke, neurological disorders, cancer, and infectious diseases; and examines the consequences of illness including chronic pain, disability, and quality of life.

Finally, the Handbook reviews research methods and addresses applications to clinical practice. Theological perspectives are interwoven throughout the chapters. The Handbook is the most insightful and authoritative resource available to anyone who wants to understand the relationship between religion and health.

Harold G. Koenig completed his undergraduate education at Stanford University, his medical school training at the University of California at San Francisco, and his geriatric medicine, psychiatry, and biostatistics training at Duke University Medical Center. He is board certified in general psychiatry, and is on the faculty at Duke as Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Associate Professor of Medicine. He is the director of Duke University's Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health and is Distinguished Adjunct Professor, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Dana E. King is Professor of Family Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, and is vice-chair of that Department. He completed an academic fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Master of Science degree in Clinical Research at the Medical University of South Carolina. He is widely published on spirituality and health including two books and multiple peer-reviewed scientific articles. Dr. King is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine.

Verna Benner Carson is Associate Professor of Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing at Towson University. Dr. Carson is also the President of C&V Senior Care Specialists, a consulting firm that offers clinical, operations and marketing support to those involved in the care of persons with Alzheimer's disease as well as those with psychiatric disorders. She has a master's degree in psychiatric nursing and a PhD in human development. Dr. Carson served as the National Director of RESTORE Behavioral Health for nearly 15 years, after serving on the faculty at the University of Maryland School of Nursing. She is one of the world's leading nurse researchers in spirituality and health, and is the author of 16 books (including two editions of a book on parish nursing).