Dr. Taquina Davis on understanding the impact of religious beliefs on patients’ decision-making

10 Minutes to Better Patient Communication

We’re celebrating Women’s History Month with 3 interviews with women from across the health sector. Today I sit down with Dr. Taquina Davis as she shares research and a personal story about understanding the impact of religious beliefs on patients’ decision-making.

March is Women’s History Month, and to celebrate, we’re bringing you 3 interviews with women from across the health sector who all care about health equity and patient communication. In today’s episode I get to sit down with Dr. Taquina Davis as she shares research and a personal story about spirituality and faith, and its influence on people’s decisions.

Hi everybody, I’m Dr. Anne Marie Liebel and this is “10 Minutes to Better Patient Communication” from Health Communication Partners. If you like this show, you’ll love our courses. Our course Equitable Patient Education promotes high-quality clinical practice in patient education by helping prevent avoidable errors. Learners say, there's a lot of eye -opening information I hadn't considered before, and, This course helped me look at myself as an educator and helped me to step back and analyze how I can be a better nurse. For more information, visit healthcommunicationpartners.com.

Dr. Taquina Davis has researched the role of spirituality and faith as part of what shapes patients’ decision-making, and how they approach their health. Dr. Davis tells me how she connects research and practice as a health educator, and she shares a powerful story about what she is learning about the blending of the personal and the professional.

Anne Marie: I’m live via Zoom with Dr. Taquina Davis. Dr. Davis is a managing partner for Health-E Strategies and adjunct professor at Purdue University Global in the Health Sciences Department. Dr. Davis, welcome to the show.

Dr. Davis: Thank you so much. Thanks for having me, Dr. Anne Marie.

Anne Marie: I’m so glad to be here and I’m gonna ask your permission–Dr. Davis and I have known each other for years. Dr. Davis, can I call you TQ?

Dr. Davis: Anne Marie, yes, you can.

AM: Thank you so much. (laughing) So, TQ, what is a problem or issue that you are facing related to patient communication?

TQ: Well, one thing that has been on the top of my priority is how spirituality and faith is considered a part of modeling and sculpting decision-making. And so, when we look at religion and spirituality, it has a significant influence on people’s understandings of the world, their emotions, their psychology, and how they approach their health. So as public health professionals and health care providers, understanding the impact of religious beliefs on patients’ decision-making is crucial for providing appropriate care. So one thing to think about, Anne Marie, is there was a poll done in 2021 through Gallup. And it stated that at least three out of four Americans identified with a specific religious faith. So that’s a large amount of folks that consider religion as part of their lives.

Mhhmhh. And so that this is, this sounds like something where there’s, is there research on this? Do we know, this sounds like something that been studied before.

Yes, that’s a really good question. So like in the past decades, like several, even several organizations like the American College of Physicians, the American Medical Association, and the American Nurses Association, they have recognized the role of spirituality in clinical care. So the incorporation of spirituality into medical education has been prompted by many publications. And the growing and of relationship with health has resulted in thousands of articles actually being published in scientific journals. So again, it just harkens on acknowledging patients religious beliefs and fostering cultural sensitivity is essential for providing holistic and effective health care. Understanding the intersection of religion and health allows public health professionals and clinicians to support their patients’ well-being better. Spiritual and religion has a huge impact on decision-making.

So thanks for that, TQ. And this is not a research base that I knew a whole lot about. So how have you been facing this issue of trying to understand more about the intersection of religion and health? How have you been facing this?

Good question. Another good question. So I’ve actually had the opportunity of doing some research myself. So my research aligns with other research identifying that patients often turn to their religious and spiritual beliefs when making medical decisions. Religion and spirituality can impact someone’s diet, medicine, treatment, and self-care choices. Other research supports that many groups dealing with major life stressors, such as natural disasters, illnesses, loss of loved ones, divorce, several medical illnesses, show that religion and spirituality are generally helpful to people in coping. Especially with people with fewest resources facing the most uncontrollable problems.

Hmm.

So it’s important that people can draw on religion and spirituality resources to tie better adjustment in times of crisis. So there’s lots of research that actually supports this type of work. So as a health educator, I’ve had the opportunity to speak to various community members and provide education on various health topics, like diabetes, hypertension, stress management, and tobacco education. And I would always share my story and my perspective. As I would open up regarding my religion and how it helped me cope with life stressors, I would notice like eyes were lighting up, and slight smiles starting to form on people’s faces. Or even heads start to nod. So like, these nonverbal cues would tell me that what I was saying was resonating with a few of the people in the room. And then all of a sudden I would hear, “well, yes, me too.” So this allowed the floodgates to open up. And once that happened, it was a party, right? And so we would be able to share stories, and open up to them, they open up to me. And in the mood in the room, it changed. So it’s been very impactful from a research perspective and also as a health educator.

I mean, that’s right. I’m sitting here nodding and trying not to make noises to interrupt you too, but I’m absolutely, I’m feeling it. Like I can see you’re not just coming from the research base, but you’re also, and you’re also living it. Like this is your practice. You’re talking about your own experiences and you’re using that shared connection with the patients to kind of make, allow other things to happen. So what are you learning from doing it like this, TQ?

Well, my personal experiences have changed how I’ve related to patients in the past, and how I navigate health education and promotion today. So as public health professionals, and me specifically as a health educator, y’know we have hearts and we have a passion to always wanna help others and point them in the right direction. Within my new professional journey, I’m learning more about biases, I’m learning more about stigma, and I’m learning more about the application of empathy. So with the current project I’m working with, it’s a faith-based organization and also leaders, to address addiction and recovery within their congregation and within their community. So we all know we think about addiction as having a stigma, and there’s a large body of research there that indicates the stigma is like pervasive, is rooted in the belief that addiction is a personal choice. But this project has allowed me to do self-reflection Anne Marie. So like my previous work experiences were guided by Professional TQ, and with this recovery project, Personal TQ is now taking over. And so what I mean by that, I was recovering from a loss of identity. Changing careers. I had medical issues. I had family dynamics shifting, financial uncertainty and unpredictable situations. So I wasn’t in control. So I realized that I was internalizing and handling the outside situation very unhealthy. And I knew I needed help. I knew professionally that a mental health professional could help me. I knew mental health was an issue. And I learned from my professional life how behavioral health impacts your overall health and quality of life. So I had to tell myself, “go get help.”

TQ, thank you for that. Thank you for sharing that and trusting me and us with your story, that you’re truly practicing what you preach, truly living your mission in what you are doing. So what are next steps for you? Or do you have any words for people who are facing similar issues?

So next steps from a health education, public health, and even a clinical perspective: How can we tap into this whole idea of spirituality and religion, and understanding how spirituality has a cultural impact, and it’s an identity, right? It has come increasingly recognized as a factor to why patients make certain decisions.

Mmhmm.

So we all understand from a clinical standpoint, from a professional standpoint, we understand cultural competency and healthcare involves the recognition of differences, and cultural knowledge and identity, including language, religion, and can be addressed at multiple levels. So public health and healthcare professionals, we go through much schooling, we do a lot of continuing education. I would encourage professionals to keep an open mind to understand the why. And for some, religion could be the why. And as professionals, we must do everything we can do to provide the best quality of care, so our patients can have an excellent quality of life. And it doesn’t mean you need to go out and read the Quran or the Bible or the Torah. It’s about respect and empathy so our patients feel okay in opening up to us.

Dr. TQ Davis, thank you so much for being on the show today.

Thank you for having me, Dr. Anne Marie, I appreciate it.

Thank you again to Dr. Davis for her scholarship and her candor, both of which take enormous strength and grace. Links to Dr. Davis’ info is in the transcripts at healthcommunicationpartners.com. This has been “10 Minutes to Better Patient Communication” from Health Communication Partners. Audio Engineering and Music by Joe Liebel. Additional Music by Alexis Rounds. Thanks for listening to 10 Minutes to Better Patient Communication from Health Communication Partners LLC.

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