Health promotion perspectives on the COVID-19 pandemic: The importance of religion

Abstract

In this article we examine the importance of religion for COVID-19 health promotion. We advance three main arguments. First, religion plays an important role in affecting how likely it is that people will become infected with COVID-19. Second, religion should not be seen as a ‘problem’ with regards to COVID-19 but as an important part of the worldview and lifestyle of many people. Third, there are valuable health promotion lessons we can learn not only from the intersection of religion and other infectious diseases, but also from approaches taken within science education. Contentious science topics such as evolution and vaccine hesitancy have been effectively communicated to those with a religious faith who are disposed to reject them by reframing and considering religion as a worldview and treating those who do not accept standard scientific theories sensitively. Religion has much to contribute to health promotion, including introducing perspectives on life’s meaning and on death that can differ from those held by many without religious faith. Furthermore, religious leaders are important gatekeepers to their communities and can therefore play a vital role in policy implementation, even when that policy makes no overt reference to religion. Our contention is that by working with those of faith in the context of COVID-19, health promotion can be enhanced.

Beradaptasi dengan Bencana: Strategi Beribadah Umat Islam dan Kristen di Tengah Pandemi Covid-19

“…Max Regus (2021) menegaskan bahwa agama memiliki dua sisi yang bertolak belakang dalam kaitannya dengan COVID-19. Pada satu sisi, agama memiliki aturan yang potensial untuk mengurangi atau bahkan menghentikan pandemi ini (Barmania & Reiss, 2020;Everett, Colombatto, Chituc, Brady, & Crockett, 2020;Fardin, 2020), tetapi di sisi lain agama juga dapat menjadi medium penyebaran Covid-19 Ebrahim, Ahmed, Gozzer, Schlagenhauf, & Memish, 2020). Rutinitas Muslim yang setiap Jumat wajib menunaikan salat jamaah Jumat, misalnya, berubah dan lebih banyak dilakukan di rumah dan beribadah secara mandiri/munfarid (Ghofur & Subahri, 2020;Siregar & Jubba, 2020) dalam rangka menghindari penyebaran COVID-19.…”

“…Banyak orang mencari agama sebagai perlindungan dari COVID-19 tanpa melakukan pencegahan dasar seperti pembatasan sosial (Iqbal, Tareen, & Saleem, 2020). Beberapa narasi terkadang menyiratkan (atau bahkan menyatakan) bahwa agama secara langsung merugikan kesehatan masyarakat atau secara tidak langsung merusak respons kesehatan masyarakat untuk COVID-19 (Barmania & Reiss, 2020) seperti pada kasus Jamaah Tabligh di Asia Tenggara, 14.000 delegasi Jamaah Tabligh Islam di Kuala Lumpur secara luas dianggap sebagai penyebab gelombang kedua pandemi di Malaysia, di mana peserta dari acara bepergian ke Brunei, Kamboja, dan Indonesia kemudian dinyatakan positif (Che Mat, Edinur, Abdul Razab, & Safuan, 2020). Di sini tampak bahwa jika agama diperlakukan secara sensitif dengan pengakuan dari kompleksitas masalah dan kebutuhan solusi di sejumlah level, maka ada peluang bagus bahwa beberapa dari prediksi terburuk dari konsekuensi COVID-19 mungkin tidak terjadi.…”

Biopsychosocial and Spiritual Implications of Patients With COVID-19 Dying in Isolation

“…However, this may be less likely in eastern culture. Some experts question whether tension exists between science and faith ( Barmania and Reiss, 2020 ), especially in eastern cultures. This was not the case in the west before the greater acceptance of Darwin’s theories on evolution became mainstream in science.…”

“…Even today, an example of someone who adheres to both science and religious values is Dr. Francis Collins, the current Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He is reportedly working “all his waking hours” to find a vaccine for COVID-19 ( Barmania and Reiss, 2020 ). In May 2020, Collins was awarded the prestigious Templeton Prize, which is bestowed on those working toward bridging the gap between faith and science.…”

“…In May 2020, Collins was awarded the prestigious Templeton Prize, which is bestowed on those working toward bridging the gap between faith and science. In his book The Language of God , Collins writes that he is a Christian who followed a path from atheism to following Jesus as a medical student when he encountered death daily ( Barmania and Reiss, 2020 ). Holding religious beliefs may, in fact, better equip individuals managing or coping with health issues or, in the case of Dr. Collins, the tireless efforts to find effective treatments for COVID-19.…”