Spirituality and Ophthalmology

Abstract

Religion/spirituality (R/S) is very important to most patients, with 84% of world’s population reporting a religious affiliation. Even those with no religion often report some level of spirituality, which may be defined as “the relationship or contact with a transcendent realm of reality [e.g., God, gods, spirits, deceased ancestors, etc.] that is considered sacred, the ultimate truth, or reality” (p.12).(1) Religion would be the “the institutional or communal aspect of spirituality, as a shared set of beliefs, experiences, and practices related to the transcendent and the sacred” (p.13).