The Implications of Spirituality for Mental Well-Being and Public Health

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue of Religions focusing on the implications of spirituality for personal well-being as well as for relational and public health. The aim of this Special Issue is to provide researchers and scholars the opportunity to advance academic and professional discussion on this important subject. In particular we are interested in two types of articles: (a) reasearch articles on the use or non-use of specific spiritual practices or interventions in healthcare along with the observed or reported effects, and (b) reflective articles that look beyond the use of spiritual practices with particular patient populations to consider to contextual considerations, e.g., professional and family caregivers, metanalyses, cultural considerations, and ethical considerations. Original research articles and reviews representative of any practice context and/or spiritual or religious tradition will be considered. We hope that this Special Issue will benefit the field by providing a heightened awareness of the intersection between spirituality and health, supporting the ethical integration of spirituality into healthcare and stimulating new research.

Research articles may include (but are not limited to) qualitative or quantiative research on any of the following topics:

• The role or absence spirituality, spiritual practices, or religious practices in the treatment and recovery of individuals with acute physical or mental health concerns; e.g., ongoing symptoms without diagnosis, traumatic injury, etc.
• The role or absence of spiritual or religious practices in the lives of individuals—either within the community or within a long-term care facility—who live with chronic physical or mental health concerns.
• The role or absence of spiritual or religious practices in the lives of the caregivers of individuals living with chronic physical or mental health concerns.

Review articles may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Meta-analyses of the literature
• Ethical questions that appear in the literature related to the incorporation or non-incorporation of spiritual or religious practices in the treatment or support provided within the healthcare system by social workers or community support groups.

Submission of Articles.

We encourage interested authors to submit a proposed title and a 200-300 word abstract summarizing their intended contribution before submitting a full manuscript. Please send your proposal to the Guest Editor, Professor Kelvin F. Mutter at mutterk@mcmaster.ca, and cc the Assistant Editor of Religion, Ms. Clare Chai at clare.chai@mdpi.com. The Guest Editor will review the abstracts to ensure they fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo a double-blind peer review process.

Article Processing Charges (APCs)

Religions is fully open access, providing unlimited and free access to readers. This model enhances visibility and promotes more frequent citations, as supported by several studies. Open access is backed by authors and their institutions. Currently, the Article Processing Charge (APC) for publishing in Religions is set at 1800 Swiss Francs for papers accepted after peer review. We recommend inquiring with your university or institution regarding any available funding for publication support. Scholars with limited funding who are interested in submitting an article are encouraged to communicate their situation to the Guest Editor and cc the Assistant Editor of Religions, Ms. Clare Chai, at the time they submit their proposal for consideration of a partial or complete reduction in the fee for invited authors as needed.

Dr. Kelvin Mutter
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.