Development and validation of spiritual health assessment tools based on related Islamic texts

Abstract

Aim: One of the most important aspects of human health is spiritual health, which has a great impact on other dimensions. Due to the need to provide a comprehensive definition of spiritual health and determine its components and measure it in accordance with the culture and religion of Iranian society, the present study was conducted with the aim of developing a conceptual model and tool for measuring spiritual health based on Islamic texts. Methodology: The present study was conducted by a combined method of exploratory type (qualitative, quantitative). In the qualitative stage, by the method of qualitative content analysis with inductive categorization system, unknown variables and components of spiritual health were discovered and the conceptual model of spiritual health was drawn. To validate the data, the method of external audits or approval of relevant experts was used. Then, the tool for measuring spiritual health was developed in the form of a questionnaire with Likert scale in 70 items. In the quantitative stage, in the questionnaire validation process, content validity indicators were used to test the validity of the questionnaire, and test-retest methods and internal consistency were used to assess its reliability. Results: In the qualitative stage, the components of spiritual health were classified into three main categories: Theology, Cognition of guide, and Eschatology. The theology components included the 6 concepts: monotheistic attitude, certainty, sincerity, detachment, trust in God, and remembrance of God. Components of cognition of guide included the two main categories: matching manner with the Holy Qur'an (theoretical model), and matching manner with the prophets and the fourteen infallibles (practical model). The first category includes the two concepts of familiarity with the Qur'an and practice of the Qur'an; And the second category includes 22 concepts: submission and satisfaction, patience, fulfillment of obligations, abandonment of prohibitions, thanksgiving, contentment, material pleasure, spiritual pleasure, faithful to the covenant, truthfulness, trustworthiness, good-temperedness, generosity, manliness, assistance, forgiveness, justice, courage, Jealousy, forbearance, modesty and halal Livelihood. The last component of spiritual health is eschatology, which includes the three concepts: resurrection-believing, remembrance of death and asceticism. Finally, the tool for measuring spiritual health was designed based on a conceptual model. In the quantitative stage, a total of 70 items were identified by experts as necessary, relevant, simple and clear, and the validity of the content was confirmed by experts. Cronbach's alpha coefficients showed internal consistency in all constructs and sub-constructs of the questionnaire and the test-retest results in all components confirmed the reliability of the questionnaire. Conclusion: In the present study, with a comprehensive view of a perfect human being with the monotheistic identity mentioned in Islamic texts, the components of spiritual health are extracted and its conceptual model is designed, and its measurement tools have been developed and validated, which is in line with previous studies in this field.