We are inviting you to participate in a research survey entitled “Religion and Spirituality in Medical Care from the Patient Perspective.” We are inviting you because you are associated with a faith community in Camden County. In order to participate in this survey, you must be 18 years or older. 

The survey will take approximately 5 minutes to complete. Your participation is voluntary. If you do not wish to participate in this survey, please do not respond to this online survey. Completing this survey indicates that you are voluntarily giving consent to participate in the survey. Please only complete the survey ONE time through either the online or paper form.

In this study, we aim to gauge how important patients feel it is that physicians inquire about religious and spiritual convictions during medical care. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) views spirituality as an essential part of medical practice, saying: “Spirituality [and religion] is recognized as a factor that contributes to health in many persons...It [spirituality] is expressed in an individual’s search for ultimate meaning through participation in religion and/or belief in God, family, naturalism, rationalism, humanism, and the arts. All of these factors can influence how patients and health care professionals perceive health and illness and how they interact with one another.” Additionally, the Joint Commission, the organization that manages hospital accreditation, also considers taking a spiritual history to be an essential part of holistic patient-centered care and includes the spiritual history in their standards of care. This research project will build on the current recommendations and explore the patient perspective on the topic of religion and spirituality in medical care, specifically in Camden County. 

There are no risks or discomforts associated with this survey. There may be no direct benefit to you. However, your responses may help us learn how to provide more holistic and excellent medical care to patients in the future.

Your response will be kept confidential. We will store the data in a secure computer file and the file will destroyed once the data has been published. Any part of the research that is published as part of this study will not include your individual information.

If you have any questions about the survey, please contact me, Alyssa Heric, at herica47@rowan.edu, but you do not have to give your personal identification.

If you have any questions about your rights as a research subject, please contact the Office of Research Compliance at (856) 256-4078– Glassboro/CMSRU.

This study has been approved by the Rowan IRB, Pro-2021-526. Please complete the following attestation and consent.