Disabilities, Spirituality, and Well-Being in Late Life: Research Foundations for Study and Practice

Abstract

ABSTRACT Under the impact of increasing longevity and other trends, the number of aging people with disabilities and accompanying limitations and problems is growing. Some disabilities are pre-existing conditions to which aging adds complications. Others represent completely new circumstances to the person for which each lacks habitual coping techniques. Disabilities generate complex ethical issues for individuals and society. They also tend to arouse the personal awareness of spiritual needs. Quantitative, qualitative, and clinical research investigations have demonstrated the predominately beneficial effects of spiritual interventions on the well-being of disabled elders. The findings provide many insights on the importance of including appropriate attention to spirituality in professional interventions, the services provided by lay caregivers, and informal therapies like the spiritual life review. Yet, despite significant progress, spiritual interventions still face many limitations, problems, and deficiencies. Research on relationships between disability and spirituality is still in early stages of development. Future progress in both the research and its applications to services with and for disabled older persons hinges upon resolving complex issues of defining, measuring, applying, administering, and evaluating the intangible phenomena that are subsumed under the label of spirituality, as well as on extending the research to include cross-cultural studies that are a requisite for global applications.