Foundations for Spirituality: Establishing the Viability of Spirituality within the Health Disciplines

Since 1979, the concepts of spirituality and spiritual health have been a pressing concern of the health disciplines. While many health professionals seek to study and implement spiritual health concepts, others are still skeptical and find spiritual issues problematic. This article proposes a justification for the inclusion of spirituality as a viable field of study within the health disciplines. Characteristic arguments against the concept of spirituality are examined and solutions proposed. The possible role of scientism in the slow acceptance of spiritual concepts within the health disciplines is discussed along with the proposal of an ‘expanded’ or ‘meta-science’ framework for studying spirituality.