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the World Health Organization and the 'spiritual dimension' of health, 1946-2021
1 online resource (256 pages) : illustrations (colour)
"Since the beginning of the World Health Organization, many of its staff members, regional offices, Member States, and directors-general have grappled with the question of what a 'spiritual dimension' of health looks like, and how it might enrich the health policies advocated by their organization. Contrary to the widespread perception that 'spirituality' is primarily related to palliative care and has emerged relatively recently within the WHO, this book shows that its history is considerably longer and more complex, and has been closely connected to the organization's ethical aspirations, its quest for more holistic and equitable healthcare, and its struggle with the colonial legacy of international health organizations. Such ideals and struggles silently motivated many of its key actors and policies--such as the provision of universal primary healthcare--which for decades have embodied the organization's loftiest aspirations. The WHO's official relationship with 'spirituality' advanced in fits, leaps, and setbacks. At times creative and interdisciplinary, at others deeply political, this process was marked by cycles of institutional forgetting and remembering. Rather than a triumph of religious lobbyists, this book argues, the 'spiritual dimension' of health may be better understood as a 'ghost' that has haunted--and continues to haunt--the WHO as it comes to terms with its mandate of advancing health as a state of 'complete well-being' available to all"--Publisher's description.
List of Figures -- Abbreviations -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Holistic Ideals and the 'Spirit' of International Health -- 3. Ennobling Ideas: The World Health Assembly Debates the 'Spiritual Dimension' (1983-1984) -- 4. From Religious Revival to Health Policy: The WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Office (1981-2006) -- 5. The Spirituality of Others and the WHO Discourse on Traditional Medicine -- 6. Spiritual Care in the Context of Palliative Care and HIV/AIDS -- 7. Spirituality, Religiousness, and Personal Beliefs in the WHO's Quality of Life Measurement Instrument (WHOQOL-SRPB) -- 8. Attempts to Reform the WHO Definition of Health (1997-1999) -- 9. Developments in the New Millennium -- 10. Synthesis and Outlook: The Spiritual Dimension in Global Health -- Epilogue: The WHO and Religious Actors during the Covid-19 Pandemic -- Appendix 1: Chronicle of Events -- Index.
Simon Peng-Keller, Fabian Winiger, Raphael Rauch.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Spirit of global health : the World Health Organization and the 'spiritual dimension' of health, 1946-2021