To the Editor: I read with interest the article by Dr. Kuckel and colleagues.1 I understand and agree with the authors' stated intent that it is important that clinicians explore what beliefs give “patients a sense of greater purpose in life,” whether through a connection with God or “nature, energy, art, music, and humankind.”1 However, I am concerned that in current colloquial discourse, the words they propose to assess these connections—spirituality and faith—are too closely tied to religious creed to be universally welcoming.
The words “meaning” or “meaningful” are not mentioned in their suggested approaches, as in “What gives you meaning in life?” Such words imply greater inclusivity and can, when responsive to patients' replies and respectful of their points of view, open the door to the questions the authors specifically endorse in their recommended assessment tools.
By focusing on spirituality and faith as informationally oriented objects of investigative attention, the authors also fail to highlight the therapeutic power that can result from encounters between clinicians and patients. This cocreation of shared presence has everything to do with the in-the-moment expression and valuation of human vulnerability, dignity, interdependence, resilience, and even transcendence—all characteristics of spirituality and faith, broadly considered—and may offer a worthy path to holistic healing and meaningful growth on both sides of the stethoscope.2–4
Editor's Note: This letter was sent to the authors of “The Spiritual Assessment,” who declined to reply.
