Spirituality Among Older Adults: An Exploration of the Developmental Context, Impact on Mental and Physical Health, and Integration into Counseling

Spiritual Needs of Older Adults during Hospitalization: An Integrative Review

A hospital admission presents various challenges for a patient which often result in high or intense spiritual needs. To provide the best possible care for older adults during hospitalization, it is essential to assess patients’ spiritual needs. However, little research has been done into the spiritual needs of geriatric patients. This article seeks insight into what is known in the literature on the spiritual needs of geriatric patients. This integrative review presents a summary of the articles on this topic. To select eligible studies, the PRISMA Flow Diagram was used. This resulted in ten articles that have been reviewed. Results show (1) a wide interest in researching spiritual needs, using different research designs. In addition, (2) four subcategories of spiritual needs can be distinguished: (a) the need to be connected with others or with God/the transcendent/the divine, (b) religious needs, (c) the need to find meaning in life, and (d) the need to maintain one’s identity. Moreover, results show that (3) assessing spiritual needs is required to provide the best possible spiritual care, and that (4) there are four reasons for unmet spiritual needs. Further research is needed on the definition of spiritual needs and to investigate older patients’ spiritual needs and the relation with their well-being, mental health and religious coping mechanisms, in order to provide the best spiritual care.

Buddhism-as-a-meaning-system for coping with late-life stress: a conceptual framework

OBJECTIVES

Religion is increasingly conceptualized as a meaning system for adjustment and coping. Most of the conceptualizations are grounded in the Judeo-Christian tradition. They may thus not be applicable to Buddhism, which provides a distinct tenor of meaning for coping. This article seeks to construct a conceptual framework of Buddhism-as-a-meaning-system for coping with late-life stress.

METHOD

Literature review and conceptualization were employed.

RESULTS

Under this framework, Buddhism functions as a meaning system involving existential meaning, cognitive meaning, and behavioral meaning.

CONCLUSION

There is reason to believe that this framework promises to offer a holistic conceptual map of Buddhist coping in late life. Thus, it could serve as a guide for further empirical and theoretical exploration in the uncharted terrains of Buddhist coping in old age. In addition, gerontological practitioners could use this framework as a frame of reference when working with elderly Buddhist clients who are in stressful circumstances.

Religion in the lives of older women serving life in prison

This exploratory qualitative study examined the roles of religiousness in the lives of 21 older women (mean age = 63) serving life sentences in one southern state. Based on survey and focus group methodology, several themes emerged as important focal points, including early religious experiences prior to incarceration, imprisonment and religious doubt, participation in formal and informal religious activities, and use of religion in coping with stressors such as interpersonal relationships, trauma, and health statuses. Irrespective of their religious upbringing, all participants agreed that religiosity/spirituality played a key role in their ability to cope with their prison experience as well as for maintaining hope and the opportunity for release.

Direct and indirect effects of religiosity on valuation of life through forgiveness and social provisions among older incarcerated males

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

Few studies have investigated the influence of religiosity (REL), forgiveness, and social resources on incarcerated individuals' attachment to their lives, or valuation of life (VOL). We tested a model linking REL to VOL through 3 subscales of the Heartland Forgiveness Scale (Self, Others, and Situations) and social provisions (SPS).

DESIGN AND METHODS

Cross-sectional data were collected from 261 male prison inmates, aged 45-82, incarcerated in 8 state-managed correctional facilities. Participants were sampled from the prison census database (Oklahoma Department of Corrections or DOC). Exclusion criteria, per the Oklahoma DOC, were those housed in medical or psychiatric units, currently in solitary confinement, or sentenced to death row.

RESULTS

To account for possible violations of multivariate normality, we used the Satorra-Bentler chi-square statistic. The final model fit the data well, explaining 57% of the variance in VOL: χ(2) (N = 261; df = 3) = 7.40; p = .06; Comparative Fit Index = .99; root mean squared error of approximation = .08; standardized root mean squared residual = .02. Significant indirect effects of REL on VOL were present through Forgiveness of Others and SPS, and of REL on SPS through Forgiveness of Others. Analyses controlled for age, race, education, perceived physical health, and depressive symptoms.

IMPLICATIONS

Implications of the findings for those involved with prisoner care are discussed, particularly therapeutic interventions including process models of forgiveness.