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Religions
Special Issues
Spirituality and Whole Person Care for Older People
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Spirituality and Whole Person Care for Older People

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Health/Psychology/Social Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2022) | Viewed by 6174

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Linda Rykkje

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Guest Editor
Faculty of Health, VID Specialized University, Bergen, Norway
Interests: spirituality; older people care; dignity; ethics in care; caring science; practice development
Dr. Kari Marie Thorkildsen

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor
Institute of Health and Caring Sciences, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, 5063 Bergen, Norway
Interests: spirituality; ethics; ontology; caring science
Dr. Kari Kaldestad

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor
The Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Stavanger, 4021 Stavanger, Norway
Interests: dignity; suffering; health; care for older people; ethics in practice; caring science

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to this Special Issue about spirituality related to older people. We also focus upon spiritual care, which in our opinion means caring for the whole person. We welcome use of related concepts such as holistic care, existential care, and spiritual/existential concepts like hope, meaning, preparing for life’s final phase, joy of life, life history work, dignity, compassion, and so forth, as long as it does relate to the spiritual dimension of life and is relevant in old age. We chose to not use “Spiritual care” in the title of the Special Issue, as we believe “Care for the whole person” can broaden our view of what the spiritual dimension means in the lives of human beings.

The scope of the issue is to elaborate on whole person care in relation to nursing and allied health or care professions. We would like both theoretical work and empirical work to be submitted; however, we do expect that the content is relevant for the issue and that it follows ethical research standards as well as being of good scientific quality.

The issue will supplement other research about spiritual or existential care related to health care. Much research is already conducted in the field of religious/spiritual/existential care. We specify that the submissions should be related to older people, as this field is still under-researched, and wider perspectives and perspectives across religions, cultures, or professions are especially needed. By sharing our research about older people and spirituality, we will add valuable knowledge that again can be used for a broader understanding of the importance of spiritual practices, needs, and utilizing older persons’ inhibited resources. We need to live a full life to the very end. Then, we need to understand that older people are also a diverse group—everyone is unique. Therefore, we still need knowledge about the many colors and variations of life views and opinions to try to enhance our understanding of the spiritual dimension in life. We particularly believe that caring science and nursing, other health professions, as well as collaborating professionals like chaplaincy, can take part in painting this broad picture of understanding and can also suggest how to foster care for the whole person in old age.

Dr. Linda Rykkje
Dr. Kari Marie Thorkildsen
Dr. Kari Kaldestad
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • spirituality
  • spiritual care
  • older people
  • whole person care

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 299 KiB  
Article
Existential Issues in Old Age as Narrated by Older People—An Interview Study from Norway
by Åsta Marie Olafsson and Linda Rykkje
Religions 2022, 13(3), 259; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13030259 - 17 Mar 2022
Viewed by 2911
Abstract
Background: Research about the importance of existential issues and individuals’ responses to them in old age is growing. This study aimed to explore older Norwegians’ thoughts and experiences related to existential issues and whether or not they wanted to talk about existential concerns [...] Read more.
Background: Research about the importance of existential issues and individuals’ responses to them in old age is growing. This study aimed to explore older Norwegians’ thoughts and experiences related to existential issues and whether or not they wanted to talk about existential concerns with others. The theoretical framework includes Yalom’s ultimate concerns and Tornstam’s theory of gerotranscendence. Methods: Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with eleven home-dwelling older persons, five men and six women aged 73–91 years, all residing in a larger Norwegian town. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Four main themes and two subthemes regarding the participants’ existential reflections emerged concerning loneliness, death, and meaning. Some participants increased their interest in existential issues in old age, and only a few participants desired deeper conversations about existential issues. Conclusions: The participants were mostly satisfied with life, mainly did not feel lonely and were not afraid of death. Existential meaning was experienced on a horizontal level rather than a transcendent level. Although few openly wanted existential conversations, most participants conveyed a positive interview experience, suggesting that if existential conversations were offered, they would be valuable to older people. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Spirituality and Whole Person Care for Older People)
15 pages, 293 KiB  
Article
Understanding Spiritual Care—Perspectives from Healthcare Professionals in a Norwegian Nursing Home
by Marianne Morland, Wilfred McSherry and Linda Rykkje
Religions 2022, 13(3), 239; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13030239 - 10 Mar 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2627
Abstract
Nursing home professionals have reported that spiritual care is an unclear concept, and research suggests that healthcare professionals have a limited understanding of this dimension of care. The provision of spiritual care is well-investigated internationally, but research is sparse within Norway’s secularized society. [...] Read more.
Nursing home professionals have reported that spiritual care is an unclear concept, and research suggests that healthcare professionals have a limited understanding of this dimension of care. The provision of spiritual care is well-investigated internationally, but research is sparse within Norway’s secularized society. This study investigated healthcare professionals’ understanding of spiritual care in one nursing home. Methods: Data were collected from individual interviews (N = 8) and one focus group (N = 5) of nursing home personnel; the study used qualitative content analysis and a hermeneutic methodology. Results: One central question emerged during the data analysis: what is spiritual care versus good care? This starting point resulted in four themes (1) caring for the whole person, (2) having a personal touch, (3) seeing the person behind the diagnosis, and (4) more than religiousness. Some healthcare professionals had not heard of spiritual care, and many were not aware of this in their daily work with older patients. Nevertheless, they facilitated and cared for the patient’s spiritual needs, but they did not address it as spiritual care. Other participants were familiar with the concept and understood spiritual care as an essential part of daily care. Conclusion: healthcare professionals’ understanding of spiritual care is broad and varied, including practical and non-verbal aspects. The results indicated a need for an open dialogue about spiritual needs and resources in clinical practice and the teaching of personnel about how to facilitate older people’s spirituality. Moreover, there is a need for more research into spiritual care and how it differs from the concept of good fundamental care. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Spirituality and Whole Person Care for Older People)
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