Abstract
The ability of older people to express their spirituality is an important component of aged care. Spirituality is not specifically religiousness although, for some, religion offers a means for spiritual expression. This paper aimed to explore what constitutes spiritual life for residents in three residential aged care facilities in South Australia. The findings of the research demonstrated that the majority of older resident participants defined spirituality as ‘connection/s’. Three unexpected results of the study became obvious during analysis, reported here as ‘loss’, ‘adaptation’ and ‘they’re busy’. It is offered here that these adjustments enabled participants to compensate for their losses.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baldacchino, D., Boneilo, L., & Debattista, C. (2014). Spiritual coping of older persons in Malta and Australia (part 2). British Journal of Nursing, 23(15), 843–846.
Brennan, M., & Heiser, D. (2002). Spiritual assessment and intervention with older adults. Current directions and applications. Binghamton, NY: The Haworth Pastoral Press.
Broadhurst, K., & Harrington, A. (2015). A mixed method thematic review: The importance of hope to the dying patient. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 72(1), 18–32.
Burack, O., Weiner, A., Reinhardt, J., & Annunziato, R. (2012). What matters most to nursing home elders: Quality of life in the nursing home. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 13(1), 48–53.
Burkhart, L., & Hogan, N. (2008). An experiential theory of spiritual care in nursing practice. Qualitative Health Research, 18(7), 928–938.
Cope, D. (2014). Methods and meanings: Credibility and trustworthiness of qualitative research. Oncology Nursing Forum, 41(1), 89–91.
Crotty, M. (1996). Phenomenology and nursing research. South Melbourne: Churchill Livingstone.
Djernes, J. K. (2006). Prevalence and predictors of depression in populations of elderly: A review. Acia Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 113(5), 372–387.
Edwards, A., Pang, N., & Chan, C. (2010). Review: The understanding os spirituality and the potential role of spiritual care in end-of-life and palliative care: A meta-study of qualitative research. Palliative Medicine, 24(8), 753–770.
Gadamer, H. G. (1975). Truth and method. New York, NY: Seabury.
Glaesmer, H., Grande, G., Braehler, E., & Roth, M. (2011). The German version of the satisfaction with life scale (SWLS). European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 27(2), 127–132.
González-González, M. (2018). Reconciling spirituality and workplace: Towards a balanced proposal for occupational health. Journal of Religion and Health, 57(1), 349–359.
Guest, G., Bunce, A., & Johnson, L. (2006). How many interviews are enough? An experiment with data saturation and variability. Field Methods, 18(1), 59–82.
Harrington, A. (2006). The connection health care providers make with dying patients. Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging, 18(2–3), 169–185.
Harrington, A. C. (2010). Spiritual wellbeing for older people. In E. MacKinlay (Ed.), Ageing and spirituality across faiths and cultures (pp. 179–194). London: Jessica Kingsley.
Harrington, A. (2016). The importance of spiritual assessment when caring for older adults. Ageing & Society, 36(1), 1–16.
Hutchinson, S., Hersch, G., Davidson, H. A., Chu, A. Y. M., & Mastel-Smith, B. (2011). Voices of elders: Culture and person factors of residents admitted to long-term care facilities. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 22(4), 397–404.
Jackson, D., Doyle, C., Capon, H., & Pringle, E. (2016). Spirituality, spiritual need, and spiritual care in aged care: What the literature says. Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging, 28(4), 281–295.
Koch, T., & Harrington, A. (1998). Reconceptualising rigour: The case for reflexivity. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 28(4), 882–890.
Labun, E. (1998). Spiritual care: An element of nursing care planning. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 13(3), 314–320.
MacKinlay, E. (2006). Spiritual growth and care in the fourth age of life. London: Jessica Kingsley.
MacKinlay, E. (2017). The spiritual dimension of ageing (2nd ed.). London: Jessica Kingsley.
MacKinlay, E. B., & Trevitt, C. (2007). Spiritual care and ageing in a secular society. Medical Journal of Australia, 186(10 Suppl), S74–S76.
McDonald, T. (2016). Supporting the pillars of life quality in long-term care. Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging, 28(3), 167–183.
Narayanasamy, A., Clissett, P., Parumal, L., Thompson, D., Annasamy, S., & Edge, R. (2004). Responses to the spiritual needs of older people. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 48(1), 6–16.
Ormsby, A., Harrington, A., & Borbasi, S. (2016). ‘You never come back the same’: The challenge of spiritual care in a deployed military nursing context. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 26(9–10), 1352–1362.
Productivity Commission. (2011). Caring for older Australians: Overview, report no. 53, final inquiry report. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.
Sadler, E., Biggs, S., & Glaser, K. (2013). Spiritual perspectives of Black Caribbean and White British older adults: Development of a spiritual typology in later life. Ageing & Society, 33(3), 511–538.
Seebus, I., & Peut, A. (2010). The cultural diversity of older Australians. In E. MacKinlay (Ed.), Ageing and spirituality across faiths and cultures (pp. 40–56). London: Jessica Kingsley.
Skomakerstuen Ødbehr, L., Kvigne, K., Hauge, S., & Danbolt, L. J. (2014). A qualitative study of nurses’ attitudes towards, and accommodations of, patients’ expressions of religiosity and faith in dementia care. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 71(2), 359–369.
Timmins, F., Kelly, S., Threadgold, M., O’Sullivan, M., & Flanagan, B. (2015). Serenity spirituality sessions: A descriptive qualitative exploration of a Christian resource designed to foster spiritual well-being among older people in nursing homes in Ireland. Religions, 6(2), 299–316.
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. (2015). World population ageing. Available online at http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/pdf/ageing/WPA2015_Report.pdf. Accessed 21 September 2017.
Van Manen, M. (1990). Researching lived experience. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Vitorino, L. M., Lucchetti, G., Santos, A. E. O., Lucchetti, A. L. G., Ferreira, E. B., Adami, N. P., et al. (2016). Spiritual religious coping is associated with quality of life in institutionalized older adults. Journal of Religion and Health, 55(2), 549–559.
Wills, T. A., & Fegan, F. (2001). Social networks and social support. In A. Baum, T. Revenson, & J. Singer (Eds.), Handbook of health psychology. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Each author made a substantial contribution to the paper in regard to (a) conception and design, and analysis and interpretation of data; (b) the drafting of the article and revising it critically…(c) approval of the version to be published.
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Harrington, A., Williamson, V. & Goodwin-Smith, I. Understanding the Diverse Forms of Spiritual Expression of Older People in Residential Aged Care in Australia. J Relig Health 58, 1561–1572 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-018-00742-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-018-00742-1