For centuries many people have believed that a strongly held faith can make people healthier and heal quicker. 

Research is emerging that may at last prove the link is true.

Faith, how each of us practices it varies widely, yet we know that the world over people who embrace their own faith have at least one thing in common, better health. 

"Anybody who has faith has healing because faith and healing just go together," says Father Barth Okere, the chaplain for Little Rock's St. Vincent Health System.

The Nigerian-born Catholic priest says he sees the healing power of faith every day as he counsels sick patients of every religion and denomination.

"The first thing they will tell me is, Father I'm happy I'm here in the hospital because God is really healing me because of my faith."

That confidence in the healing power of faith now appears to be validated by research showing us that the link between belief and health is a very strong one.

Firstly it doesn't matter what faith you belong to. It doesn't matter whether you attend religious services or study the Bible. It's really practicing the tenets of every faith.

And the study by the National Institutes on Health shows there are four important elements to wellness and spirituality.  The first is to be a good, honest, and ethical person.

Father Barth agrees, "Fundamentally for you to get healing you must be good. The goodness we're talking about is from the heart."

The second is to be a loving person. "God is love. Without love we can never move anywhere," he says.

The third is to be a giving person. Did you know that people who volunteer their time 14 hours a week live on average five years longer than those who don't?

"If you don't know how to give , you don't know how to receive, because blessed are the hands that giveth and the hands that receiveth," says Father Barth.

The fourth element linking faith and health is to be a forgiving person. 

"Well, Doc, forgiveness is not easy unless you forgive from your heart and then forget it there won't be healing."

It's important that doctor's ask patients about faith. We can help them find the comfort and empowerment that their beliefs can bring them.

"God is in charge, God is an awesome God. God is a healer. He is the supreme healer here, doctors are instrument."

I'm comforted by that and comforted to practice medicine in a faith-based hospital where patients are encouraged to embrace the faith of their choosing. It will give them a longer, healthier life now and help them deal with the stress and adversity of an illness.