Spirituality In Later Life Research Articles

The role of spirituality in later life: a study of older adult university students in Portugal

ABSTRACT This study explores the relationship between spirituality and successful aging in older adults in Portugal. The sample includes 58 participants aged 65 to 89. The findings reveal high levels of spirituality and psychological well-being. There is a significant correlation between spiritual beliefs and hope/optimism, indicating the positive influence of spirituality on emotional well-being. Additionally, spirituality is positively associated with autonomy, highlighting its role in fostering independence in later life. The thematic analysis identifies key themes, including participants´ connection to a higher power, personal well-being, and the lifelong importance of spirituality. These findings emphasize spirituality as a coping mechanism and a source of purpose and meaning in the later stages of life.

Does the intensity of religiosity and spirituality in later life improve mental well-being? Evidence from India

ABSTRACT The present study has investigated the multidimensional aspects of religion, spirituality, and mental well-being among Indian older adults in later life. After controlling for socioeconomic and health factors, it was found that those who practiced spirituality almost daily were 20% less likely to be depressed compared to their counterparts. Similarly, the adjusted likelihood of reported low cognitive functional health was less for those who almost daily practiced spirituality (OR = 0.82; p = <0.001) and religiosity (OR = 0.55; p = <0.001) compared to those who never practiced. However, religiosity and spirituality had significant effect on mental well-being. Further research is needed to elucidate these findings.

Gerontology at the Intersection of Religion and Families: Honoring the Legacy of Vern Bengtson

The topic of religion and spirituality in later life has received intermittent but regular attention in the field of social and behavioral gerontology over the past few decades. To the extent that religion and spirituality have been linked to better health, improved well-being, and harmonious family functioning has renewed interest in this area of scholarly inquiry. Along with these positive outcomes, religion has also been examined as the basis for family conflict, as well in terms of its inverse in the transmission of secularity across generations. This symposium will communicate empirical results, theoretical insights, and conceptual developments inspired by the career contributions of Dr. Vern Bengtson, whose landmark studies have enriched the field of gerontology in the areas of intergenerational solidarity, spirituality in later life, the transmission of religion across generations, and life-course approaches to the study of family relationships. Five eminent scholars whose work touches on these areas will be represented in this symposium. The paper by Linda George compares intergenerational religious socialization and moral development. The paper by Robert Taylor and Linda Chatters examines the role of supportive church and family networks among older African-Americans. The paper by Ellen Idler addresses aging and religious in a context of secularization. The paper by Andy Achenbaum considers spiritual dimensions of friendship and meanings of aging. The paper by Merril Silverstein integrates intergenerational and temporal continuity in religious practice and identity. The discussant Monika Ardelt has contributed important scholarly work in the areas of religion, spirituality, and wisdom in later life. Religion, Spirituality and Aging Interest Group Sponsored Symposium.

Spirituality promotes better health outcomes and lowers anxiety about aging: The importance of spiritual dimensions for baby boomers as they enter older adulthood

ABSTRACTBaby boomers present unique challenges to aged care service provision. Like previous generations, baby boomers will face challenges of ageing. Spirituality in later life, understood largely as meaning in life, is crucial to well-being. Little has been studied about this dimension of ageing for baby boomers. This mixed methods study used survey and focus groups methods to investigate spirituality in a sample of baby boomers (N = 143). Participants comprised staff, children of adults in care, and Uniting Church congregational members. We examined associations between physical and mental health, and ageing anxiety with spirituality and whether baby boomer spirituality buffered the impact of negative life events. Focus groups revealed fears of future frailty, loss, and fears of dementia. Religious affiliation in study was lower, yet spirituality was important, even with those without religious affiliation. Closeness of association of staff with older people in their care seemed to account for lower levels of fear of older people amongst staff, but higher fears of future loss compared with the other groups. Higher levels of spirituality were related to better mental and physical health and lower anxiety about and fear of ageing, and buffered the impact of negative life events where they occurred.

Keith Albans and Malcolm Johnson (eds), God, Me and Being Very Old: Stories and Spirituality in Later Life

Keith Albans and Malcolm Johnson (eds), <i>God, Me and Being Very Old: Stories and Spirituality in Later Life</i>

Spiritual perspectives of Black Caribbean and White British older adults: development of a spiritual typology in later life

ABSTRACTSpirituality is positively linked to health and well-being in later life, particularly among older adults of black ethnic groups. However, definitions of spirituality in the literature have largely been theoretically informed, rather than based on the views of older people themselves. We examined the spiritual perspectives of Black Caribbean and White British older adults based on in-depth interviews with 34 individuals aged between 60 and 95 years. Our aim was to develop a spiritual typology to add to an understanding of the process of spirituality in later life. Findings showed that Black Caribbean older individuals mostly defined spirituality in relation to their belief in a transcendent God, whereas White British older individuals tended to draw upon a wider range of spiritual, religious or secular notions. A spirituality typology in later life captured four categories of relationship, between ‘God to self’, ‘self to God’, ‘self to universe’ and ‘self to life’. The typology highlights the central role of ethnicity in shaping spiritual perspectives in later life, and identifies the multidimensional nature of spirituality among older adults, reflecting in part a developmental process, although a process which is socially and culturally constructed.

Mental health and spirituality in later life

Mental health and spirituality in later life

Spirituality in Later Life: Effect on Quality of Life

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of spirituality on quality of life (QOL) in older adults when age, gender, social support, and health status are controlled. A secondary analysis of data was conducted using results from a cross-sectional survey of older adults. Data were available from a convenience sample of 426 people living in British Columbia, Canada, who volunteered to complete the questionnaire. Instruments included the WHOQOL-100 and a demographic data sheet. The results show spirituality was not a significant factor contributing to QOL in this sample, and that the strongest predictors of overall QOL were social support and health satisfaction. Given difficulties in measuring spirituality and homogeneity of the sample, further research is warranted.

Ageing and Death: A Buddhist-Christian Conceptual Framework for Spirituality in Later Life

SUMMARY With reference to the Buddhist idea of anatā (no-self or no-soul) and the Christian notion of pneumā, this essay outlines a conceptual framework for a meaningful spirituality in later life. It critically examines the importance of consumerist constructs of human life based on “life styles” which propagate a denial of ageing and death. The essay argues that the complementary visions of the nature of the self found in both Buddhism and Christianity suggests a Buddhist-Christian notion of anatā-pneumā which signifies the self-empty-spiritual life as a basis for spirituality in later life.

The Spirituality of Compassion: A Public Health Response to Ageing and End-of-Life Care

SUMMARY The recent revival of interest in spirituality in later life marks a significant step forward in the person-centred care of ageing people. The benefits will, however, be of limited value if we do not attend to the settings in which spirituality is to be lived. In contemporary society many aged people are located in environments unsympathetic to spiritual belief and practice. Health care settings focus on professionally-assessed physical needs and are dominated by concerns about the cost of services. The national social policies that direct health care services and less directly shape older people's place in contemporary society are strongly influenced by globalised neoliberal economic policies characterised by individualism, competition, and greed. For robust and viable spirituality to develop at the individual level we need compassionate social policies that support interdependence within communities and between nations.

Mental Health and Spirituality in Later Life:

SUMMARY This chapter proposes a perspective on providing pastoral care for people at risk of, or who have mental health problems in later life. Two major areas of mental health, depression and dementia are explored, examining their impact on older people and strategies to identify risk in depression, and signs indicating need for pastoral intervention in depression and/or dementia. The work from two studies that examine issues for meaning of people, the first for older people living independently and the second in residential care, form the basis of the material presented in this chapter. It is maintained that pastoral interventions may greatly improve quality of life for these people, their families and carers.1

The Importance of Spirituality in Later Life

As an increasing number of older adults live longer lives, there has been increased interest in including spirituality in the bio-psycho-social model of assessment and treatment of the problems they encounter. What is often lacking in the literature on spirituality is consistency in the use of the various terms that contribute to the conceptual framework of spirituality, including such terms as purpose, meaning, and life themes. This article reviews terms relating to the concept of spirituality and offers a spirituality “mini-assessment” technique that may be used by social service providers who work with older adult clients. Such an assessment can be used to help elders identify their individual sources of spirituality, and that can empower and help them provide meaningful interpretations of their lives.