Islamic lifestyle with a focus on health

Islamic lifestyle with a focus on health

A Meta-Analysis of Iranian Academic Studies on Spiritual Health

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Zahra Naghizadeh 1
Reihaneh Shahvali 2
Fariba Ravaee 3
Haydeh Mahdavi 4
Hosein Morovvati 5
Sahar Mansoori 6
1 Assistant Professor, Department of Women’s Social Issues, Al-Zahra Branch, Tehran, Iran
2 Educator, Women’s Social Issues Department, Faculty Member, Academic Jihad, Al-Zahra Unit, Tehran, Iran
3 Doctor of specialization and member of the university faculty, Tehran, Iran
4 researcher at Women thinktank, ACECR, Alzahra Branch, Tehran, Iran
5 Doctor of specialization, member of the steering committee of Qom seminary community, Qom, Iran
6 General physician, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Besides physical, mental and social health, the spiritual dimension of health has been under consideration for the last decade. Due to the importance of academic studies for policymaking, in this meta-analysis, Iranian studies on spiritual health have been scrutinized. 414 studies with the keyword “spiritual health” have been searched from Persian scientific databases and have been analyzed by their authors’ field of education. Findings were presented based on papers’ publishing year, journal ranking, methodology, target groups and research questions. Results showed that researching spiritual health in Iran requires applying more varied methods and studying more diverse target groups. In addition, they have to be more published in bilingual and higher-ranked journals; researchers have to avoid repetitious and non-applicable subjects. To conclude, 3 main political strategies have been suggested: according to contextual characteristics in Iran, integrated definition and indicators must be presented by a certain reference and applied by every researcher in the field, indispensably; based on the integrated definition and indicators, a specific research tool has to be introduced to every researcher; finally, future studies and policy research must be conducted.
Keywords
Spiritual Health
Policy Making
Meta-Analysis
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