Introduction –

WHO adopted the ‘spiritual dimension’ of health in 1984 via resolution WHA37. The spiritual thought process evolved to encourage positive thoughts. It prevents, correct, and modulates negative thoughts in religions, cultures, science, and philosophy. It is scientifically proven that human thoughts play a significant role in health, wellbeing, and happiness. The Spiritual Dimension deals with the thought processes which directly or indirectly affect physical, mental, and social health.   

Background –

Multiple, complex, and ambiguous definitions of spirituality and its association with religions made it unfit for India’s healthcare and Public Health Literacy programs. Market-driven actors and their solutions fill this gap and lead to exploitation and promotion of unscientific practices in the name of ‘Spiritual Wellbeing.’ A large market, great demand, and cocktail with religions make spirituality a potential tool for vested political, religious, and business interests that may prove disastrous for the physical, mental, and social health, specifically in stress situations like COVID19. So, we incorporate it into our community health education strategy.

Objectives and Methodology –

We apply the ‘Thought Model of Spirituality’ in our community health education drive in District Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand, India, during COVID19 from August-2020 to January-2021 and evaluated its application in Health Literacy Concepts for public health promotion.

Findings and Discussion –

The ‘thought model of spirituality’ is based on the evolution of human thoughts from primitive thoughts to complex spiritual ideas as ‘all the positive thoughts of humanity and human values with a connectedness to our ‘Self’ and surroundings.’ Among 23 healthcare workers, all said that it removes religious complexities and ambiguities and provides a simple definition of the spiritual dimension for easy applicability in healthcare settings. 87% (20 out of 23) found it helpful to analyze, 78% (18 out of 23) to interpret, and 100% said it helped in understanding the religious and cultural belief systems and their health benefits better.

Conclusion –

The ‘thought model of spirituality’ can prevent exploitation and unscientific practices among communities in the name of ‘spiritual wellbeing’ and help in the health literacy program dealing with its biases, complexities, and ambiguities better for health promotion.