An investigation into the phenomena and practices of spiritual ...

their trust in prayer and in God is not shaken although their trust in the merely humanminister may be undermined.This research has empirically examined the gap between spiritual healing in thechurches and the application of health, health promotion, illness and health seekingbehaviour models to human behaviour. Theoretically, the importance of religion isacknowledged by the NHS in the appointment of hospital chaplains. Academically,those who research health-seeking behaviour have to accept that bricolage is alive andwell, and is what ordinary people do – with help from a variety of healers. Manychurch members, however, especially those in the Black majority churches, are notaware of the role of the hospital chaplain. They may have been introduced to thehospital chaplain at the time of illness or death of a family member but neverthelesshave failed to notice chaplains and the facilitation they can provide outside churchservices in terms of sharing prayer and giving pastoral support.As the ageing population from the “New Commonwealth countries” changes itsdemography, those becoming ill and nearing death in Britain, and thus havingexperience of the NHS as a user rather than as an employee, becomes more important.It is therefore incumbent on the statutory health services to make more of an effort tomake sure that these elderly people‟s spiritual as well as physical needs are addressed.This new generational development warrants more research and a closer working withBlack majority churches by Health Professionals, supported by NHS funds.The outcome of the research suggests that seeking spiritual healing as a health seekingbehaviour follows the same behavioural models as does consultation with health317