Centre for Policy on Ageing



Do psychogeriatricians "neglect" religion? — an Antipodean survey
Author(s)	Vahid Payman
Journal title	International Psychogeriatrics, vol 12, no 2, June 2000
Pages	pp 135-144
Keywords	Spiritual characteristics [elderly] ; Religion ; Patients ; Psychiatrists ; Attitude ; Social surveys ; Australia ; New Zealand.
Annotation	Religion has been found to be important in the lives of many older people, but it has been claimed that psychiatrists "neglect" this factor. Of 143 psychiatrist members of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists' (RANZCP) Section of Psychiatry in Old Age responding to a questionnaire, 43% have no religious affiliation, and only 25% participate at least monthly in organised religion. Nevertheless, 85% think that there are links between religion and mental health, and only one respondent stated that psychiatrists should never concern themselves with patients' religious issues. However, 34% had never referred a patient to a pastoral counsellor. Revising the psychiatric training curriculum would be appropriate, and would promote dialogue between psychiatrists and religious caregivers. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-001109509 A
Classmark	EX: TR: LF: QT9: DP: 3F: 7YA: 7YN
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.