Spirituality and caring in old age and the significance of religion – a hermeneutical study from Norway

Abstract

Scand J Caring Sci; 2013; 27; 275–284 Spirituality and caring in old age and the significance of religion – a hermeneutical study from Norway Spirituality is an important part of caring for the whole human being. However, there is lack of consensus about the concept parameter, and there is an ongoing discussion in nursing regarding the relation between religion and spirituality. Spirituality and religion is found to support health and well‐being in old age, and this article portrays how older Norwegians understand religion and religious support as part of spirituality and caring. The theoretical framework in this study is Eriksson’s caritative caring theory, and the research aim is to broaden the understanding of spirituality from a caring science perspective. The methodology is hermeneutical according to Gadamer. The study is based upon qualitative content analysis of 30 interviews with 17 participants above 74 years, six men and 11 women. The findings portray connectedness with a Higher power, including how Christianity has influenced upon the philosophy of life of the participants, wonders about the end of life/afterlife, and the meaning of religious symbols and rituals. The study also portrays how religious support may foster dignity, especially near the end of life, and experiences and opinions regarding support from nursing personnel. The study concludes that religiousness cannot be separated from spirituality, and that nurses should be able to provide spiritual care to a certain extent. Spiritual care including religious support according to patients’ desires may foster health and preserve human dignity.

Characteristics of communication with older people in home care: A qualitative analysis of audio recordings of home care visits

“…Most of the older people receiving home care have a number of carers visiting their homes several times per day. Older people need to experience security, belonging, and continuity (Nolan, Davies, Brown, Keady, & Nolan, ) which can support their existential needs (Rykkje et al., ).…”

“…Existential issues are often vaguely expressed (Sundler, Höglander, et al., ), which engenders the risk of being ignored, in addition to challenging the nurses. Here, existential needs are defined as a universal searching for meaning, connectedness, energy and transcendence (Rykkje, Eriksson, & Raholm, ).…”

Discerning the healing path – how nurses assist patient spirituality in diverse health care settings

“…) seems to be the key to connect with patients (Cone , Rykkje et al . , ) and for spiritual care to be recognised and encouraged (van Leeuwen & Cusveller , RCN , Taylor et al . ).…”

“…), connectedness (Cone , Rykkje et al . , ), hope (Delgado , Biro ), kindness (Biro ), listening (Delgado , Biro , Keall et al . ), meaning (Biro ), openness (Giske & Cone ) and silence (Keall et al .…”

Nurse opinions about initiating spiritual conversation and prayer in patient care

“…Several qualitative studies describe how religious worldviews help nurses construct positive meaning for their work and find comfort for the suffering they witness (e.g. Bakibinga, Vinje, & Mittelmark, 2014;Rykkje, Eriksson, & Raholm, 2013). Indeed, spirituality and religiosity inform nurses as they attempt to ameliorate patients' suffering (Pfeiffer, Gober, & Taylor, 2014).…”