Developing a definition of spiritual health for Canadian young people: a qualitative study

Abstract

ABSTRACT While the spiritual dimensions of health are often tangentially recognized in the health sciences, minimal direction is given as to what spiritual health is, or to what it means to policy or practice. In Canada, this lack of understanding is problematic because despite strong evidence suggesting that spiritual health can operate as a protective health asset in the lives of young people, it is difficult to create effective health promotion strategies for supporting spiritual health without clear definitional agreement. Guided by interpretive description as a methodological orientation, I conducted a qualitative study (n=74) with the goal of developing a definition of spiritual health that would have practical value for Canadian young people and could be used to support the optimization of their health. Data were generated through focus groups and interviews. Results yielded a child-informed definition that provides a clear starting place for operationalizing spiritual health in health-related contexts.