Religious and Spiritual Aspects of Human Service Practice

Promotes the importance of understanding spirituality and religious belief in health and human service care

Although health and human service professionals traditionally receive extensive training in the emotional and physical aspects of caring for a person, they rarely receive adequate instruction in an area often as essential―spirituality and religious belief. Recognizing the importance of religion to a large share of the population, Religious and Spiritual Aspects of Human Services fills this gap in human services literature. James W. Ellor, F. Ellen Netting, and Jane M. Thibault address the challenge of understanding the client's perspective―even when it involves a religious tradition unfamiliar to the practitioner―and consider the impact of the client's needs on the agency and on public policy.

James W. Ellor is a professor of human services and the director of graduate gerontology at National-Louis University in Wheaton, Illinois.

F. Ellen Netting is a professor of social work at Virginia Commonwealth University in Virginia.

Jane M. Thibault is a clinical gerontologist and associate professor of family and community medicine at the University of Louisville School of Medicine in Kentucky.