Humanities in Medicine Lecture Series Spirituality in Healthcare: Just Because It May Be “Made Up” Does Not Mean That It Is Not Real

Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities & History of Medicine: Humanities in Medicine Lecture Series.John Swinton, PhD, Chair, Divinity and Religious Studies, University of Aberdeen
Professor Swinton will explore the extraordinarily diverse concept of “spirituality,” specifically as it relates to healthcare practices. He will suggest that there is no such thing as spirituality. Rather it is a ‘made up’ concept invented by healthcare researchers and practitioners and intended to help us consider certain things about human beings and human living that, arguably, have been forgotten by current healthcare systems.He will argue that the ongoing discussions around whether or not spirituality is “real” miss the practical point that spirituality may be absolutely necessary, even if it is not “real.”John Swinton, PhD is Professor in Practical Theology and Pastoral Care in the School of Divinity, Religious Studies and Philosophy at the University of Aberdeen. He has a background in mental health nursing and healthcare chaplaincy and has researched and published extensively within the areas of practical theology, mental health, spirituality and human well-being, and the theology of disability.