What Do We Mean by ‘Spirituality’ and ‘Spiritual Care’?

A national cohort study of spiritual and religious practices of older people with intellectual disability

“…It is possible therefore that religion and spirituality are required less for transcendence, supportive and coping functions and more for the social support and connectedness. This reflects current understandings of spirituality which are related to connectedness with self, others, the significant and/or the sacred (Kleiven et al, 2021). The importance of connectedness was demonstrated in this study's findings where participants indicated talking to staff provided the greatest sense of comfort, followed by talking to family and friends.…”

“…"The dynamic dimension of human life that relates to the way persons (individual and community) experience, express and/or seek meaning, purpose and transcendence, and the way they connect to the moment, to self, to others, to nature, to the significant and/or the sacred." (Kleiven et al, 2021) For some, spirituality involves an adherence to a religion, or a set of religious beliefs and values, while for others these beliefs and values are spiritual but not religious (Weathers et al, 2016). Historically religion has been a core feature of the social fabric and care systems in the Republic of Ireland (ROI) (Timmins 2013), and whilst there is a growing perception of secularity across Europe, the most recent Irish census (CSO 2016) showed much of the population still had an affiliation with Christianity, with most (78.3%) identifying as Roman Catholic.…”

“…Despite an emerging concern with end of life care, mental health and social support needs of people with intellectual disability, little attention is paid to their spiritual needs. Defining spirituality is complex and multidimensional, and whilst there is no universally agreed definition, one recent project aimed at improving spiritual care competence in healthcare (EPICC) ( 2021 ) explains spirituality as: “The dynamic dimension of human life that relates to the way persons (individual and community) experience, express and/or seek meaning, purpose and transcendence, and the way they connect to the moment, to self, to others, to nature, to the significant and/or the sacred.” ( Kleiven et al, 2021 ) …”

Existential Issues in Old Age as Narrated by Older People—An Interview Study from Norway

“…Grete, on the contrary, did not talk about a shift in old age, but she had a more philosophical personality. She had been thinking about what the meaning of the circle of life could be, and it seemed that Grete's spirituality was reflected in the sense of being a part of creation (Kleiven et al 2021). Vertical self-transcendence was not a prominent finding in this study, contrary to the study of Sørensen et al (2021) that found the strongest relation to meaningfulness for people in late adulthood.…”

“…The term 'existential' and what it is in relation to the similar term 'spiritual' calls for clarification. As elaborated on by Kleiven et al (2021), there are many definitions of the terms 'existential' and 'spiritual', and the terms may be used for the same phenomenon in different countries due to the translation of the word 'spiritual'. In secularised Norway, 'existential' can be perceived by younger people as a more inclusive concept than 'spiritual', the latter signalling more religious or 'New age' connotations.…”