Our Research:

Aim The aim of this research is to identify any qualitative benefits of hands-on or proximate spiritual healing for women experiencing adverse reactions to hormonal adjuvant therapy, following potentially curative treatments for breast cancer.  The research will investigate whether spiritual healing could support and complement the effective delivery of medical care for these women.   
Background Proximate spiritual healing is commonly termed ‘laying of hands’, and includes therapeutic touch and Reiki. The exact mechanisms are not fully understood. Treatments for breast cause bodily changes that negatively impact on women’s quality of life. Women with oestrogen sensitive tumours are prescribed hormone therapy for up to five years to prevent recurrence.  Side effects include joint aches and pains, hot flushes, lack of libido and vaginal dryness. Anecdotal evidence suggests that spiritual healing can induce profound relaxation which alleviates stress, anxiety and perceptions of pain, and promote feelings of well-being.  Healers make no claim to cure breast cancer. We wish to see what, if any, benefits healing might offer women receiving long term hormone treatment following curative treatment for breast cancer. 
Method This is a qualitative study, based on observations undertaken during and after a series of one-to-one healing sessions which will take place in the Welcome Trust Clinical Research Facility.  20 women will be recruited by their oncologist (or oncology nurse) Participants will be offered up to 10 free healing sessions over a 3 month period, followed by individual interview and focus group.  Healing will be given by trained practitioners and will be recorded. Phenomenological and ethnographic methods will be used to analyse the data.
Intended outcomes Depending on the findings, the proposed study will form the preliminary stage of further studies to develop and test a spiritual healing outcome questionnaire and to conduct a controlled trial of hands-on or proximate spiritual healing.

Background Distant healing, a form of spiritual healing is widely used for many conditions but little is know about its effectiveness
Objective To evaluate distant healing in patients with a stable chronic condition
Design Randomised, controlled clinical trial
Setting: 14 private practices for environmental medicine in Germany and Austria
Participants Patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).
Intervention 409 individuals were randomised in a two by two factorial design to immediate versus deferred (waiting for 6 months) distant healing. Half the patients were blinded and half knew their treatment allocation. Patients were treated for 6 months and allocated to groups of 3 healers from a pool of 462 healers in 21 European countries with different healing traditions.
Outcomes Change in Mental Health Component Summary (MHCS) score (SF-36) was the primary outcome and Physical Health Component Summary score (PHCS) the secondary outcome.
Results This trial population had very low Quality of Life and symptom scores at entry. There were no differences over 6 months in post-treatment MHCS scores between the treated and untreated groups. There was a non-significant outcome (p = 0.11) for healing with PHCS (1.11; 95% CI -0.255 to 2.473 at 6 months) and a significant effect (p = 0.027) for blinding; patients who were unblinded became worse during the trial (-1.544; 95% CI -2.913 to -0.176). We found no relevant interaction for blinding among treated patients in MHCS and PHCS. Expectation of treatment and duration of CFS added significantly to the model.
Conclusions In patients with CFS, distant healing appears to have no statistically significant effect on mental and physical health but the expectation of improvement did improve outcome.