Letter from the Acting President
MARCH 2023
The relationship between spirituality and health is a two-way street.
They dance together, helping each other thrive.
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Dear Reader,
Over the past several months I have mostly waxed poetic with my letters, writing about prayer, devotion, equity, gratefulness, and other BIG themes. This month, I’d like to take a step back and focus on the Institute itself – where it has been, where it is, and where it’s going.
Rather than read this as an informational pamphlet, I hope you can read it as an invitation - an offer - to delve deeper into our programs and more fully experience the relationship between spirituality and health for yourself. Whether you are a student interested in building your experience and vision, a professional looking for ways to manage stress and the demands of life, a faith leader searching for resources to impact the health of your community, or a physician seeking to build key relational competencies, our doors are open to all!
Since its founding in 1955, the Institute has been dedicated to the concept that humans are spiritual beings, and that healthcare should reflect this reality. While our programs have changed according to felt needs and cultural currents, we have spent nearly 68 years at the forefront of efforts to integrate health and the human spirit.
In our early history, we pioneered the field of hospital chaplaincy, certifying hundreds of chaplains to work in the Texas Medical Center and beyond. In the late 1960’s, the world-famous Rothko Chapel was built under the auspices of the Institute, later becoming an independent entity. In the 70s and early 80s, we focused on biomedical ethics, establishing a Center for Bioethics in partnership with Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine. The 90s saw the establishment of our two longest enduring conferences – the Psychotherapy & Faith Conference and the Spirituality in Nursing Conference, both of which endure to this day.
The early 2000s brought several leadership changes as the Institute grappled with its identity as a historic Institution moving into the 21st century. The 12-year presidency of Dr. John K. Graham brought the Institute into a new era, establishing a robust suite of flourishing educational, research, and direct service initiatives.
As we look to the future, four “Centers of Excellence,” give structure to our programs. These Centers serve as programmatic hubs, each containing an anchor program that provides a basis for the work.
Center for Spirituality, Aging, and the End of Life
Anchor Program: Interfaith Spiritual Care Coalition
Some of the strongest connections between spirituality and health are most obvious at or near the end of life. That is why we run weekly bereavement groups as a core part of our ministry. ISH has a long history of tending to these end-of-life concerns, from our deep history in chaplaincy training to our work with MD Anderson's Department of Palliative Medicine on the annual Collective Soul Symposium. In 2021, ISH established the Interfaith Spiritual Care Coalition (ISCC), which addresses the lack of spiritual care resources in some healthcare facilities by placing certified spiritual care volunteers within them.
Rabbi Samuel E. Karff Center for Health Professionals' Education
Anchor Program: Karff Center Curriculum
Healthcare professionals practice in an era of unprecedented cultural, religious, and ethnic diversity. Numerous bodies of research demonstrate that patients consistently express the desire to connect with their healthcare providers on a deeper level. Unfortunately, pressures related to time, technology, and a constantly shifting healthcare landscape have resulted in elevated rates of stress, depression, suicide, disconnection, and professional dissatisfaction. From internship programs to educational events and panel discussions, to the Conference on Medicine and Religion, this Center provides health professions students a learning community to enhance their understanding of the relationship between religion/spirituality and health, with the goal of enhancing patient care and professional well-being.
Center for Faith & Public Health
Anchor Programs: Cities Changing Diabetes - Houston and the FaithHealth Network
Faith communities serve as places defined by trust, shared histories, mutual understanding, common beliefs and practices, and care. Over the past 10 years, ISH has developed a portfolio of incredible programs at the intersection of faith and public health, including initiatives addressing diabetes, opioids, vaccinations, and psychosocial trauma relief. For example, the Faith & Diabetes Initiative uses a train-the-train model developed in collaboration with community members, healthcare professionals, public health experts, clergy, and laity, to offer a sustainable model for changing the chronic disease agenda in diverse houses of faith. Programs in the FaithHealth Space also include attention to mental and behavioral health conditions and disease prevention efforts.
Center for the Mind-Body-Spirit Connection
Anchor Program: Greater Houston Healing Collaborative
Mind-body medicine is based on the understanding that the body and mind are interconnected, and that self- care is at the root of healthcare. What we think and how we feel affects every system in our bodies. Conversely, what happens in our bodies, and how we take care of them, impacts what we think, feel, and believe. The Greater Houston Healing Collaborative was formed in 2017 in the wake of Hurricane Harvey and continues to harness the energy of over 100 trainees to address the psychospiritual dimensions of ongoing concerns including school violence, the pandemic, and professional burnout. Our Mind-Body Skills Groups and other workshops offer a safe space to learn, experience, and share these evidence-based skills in a supportive group environment.
If there isn’t something here for you, you aren’t looking hard enough! You’ve already signed up for our newsletter, so go one step deeper and sign up for a program, donate to the cause, or join a support group – I promise you won’t be disappointed.
With Peace and Warmth,
Stuart
Stuart C. Nelson, MA
Acting President