The importance of spiritual assessment when caring for older adults

Ann Harrington

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    28 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    There is a growing body of literature documenting the positive effects of both religiousness and spirituality on human health, particularly among those who are ageing or diagnosed with a life-limiting illness. These positive effects provide buffers to life's stressors such as those associated with mental illness, care-giver burden, substance abuse and social disruption resulting from war. An important aspect of health care for individuals of all ages involves completion of a spiritual assessment. This paper explores the concept of spirituality and spiritual assessment, which has many definitions in the literature, and also provides examples of assessment tools from theology, nursing, social work and medicine.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1-16
    Number of pages16
    JournalAgeing and Society
    Volume36
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2016

    Keywords

    • piritual assessment
    • religion
    • spiritual distress
    • spiritual wellbeing
    • spirituality

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'The importance of spiritual assessment when caring for older adults'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this