IMPERATIVE OF SPIRITUALITY HISTORY IN CLINICAL PRACTICE, A PRIMARY CARE PERSPECTIVE; IN THE DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY MEDICINE, RIVERS STATE UNIVERSITY TEACHING HOSPITAL, PORT HARCOURT.

Abstract

Cultural practices and spirituality militate against effective utilization of healthcare facilities in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially in primary care settings. Spirituality history in clinical practice will help the health professional understand patients' values, religious beliefs, cultural practices, and preferences. It gives insight into proper counseling, and appropriate treatment and serves as an adjuvant to necessary therapeutic approaches. Family and social history have been a recognized feature of clerking patients over the years but effort is hardly been made in exploring their cultural practices and spirituality. This study aimed to Identify attitudes, socio-demographic, and professional predictors towards spirituality history in the management of patients at the Family Medicine department in Rivers State University Teaching Hospital. It was a cross-sectional study conducted over a period of six months, from January to June 2024. Out of 62 participants, 60 fully responded. The data from the questionnaire were entered into an Excel spreadsheet and analyzed using SPSS version 16. The respondents consisted of physicians (n, 55%), nurses (n, 8.3%), and Industrial Training (IT) Students (n, 36.7%). Health professionals within the age bracket of 45 -54 years and above were well willing to take spiritual history as against those within 18 - 24 years age group. Consultant physicians, senior registrars, and nurses with higher years of practice, exposure, and experience in service had a more positive attitude towards spirituality history than the younger ones. Spirituality history in clinical practice will make healthcare culturally acceptable with an increase in the utilization of available healthcare facilities. Training of health professionals in this regard is hereby advocated.