Journal of general internal medicine
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Spirituality is an important component of social and cultural identity that influences health-related beliefs, decision-making, and coping behaviors. Despite the importance of addressing spirituality in healthcare, research about its impact is limited, especially in the primary care setting. ⋯ Spiritual care, when integrated into the primary care setting, has the potential, according to the report of our informants, to help achieve important health-related objectives, such as increased trust in their providers, sustained healthy behavior change, and happiness in spite of chronic illness. Now, more than ever, when our society is hurting from mistrust of our profession secondary to disinformation and discrimination, spiritual care has an important role to play in our efforts to gain our patients' trust so that we can support their healing.