Spirituality, religiosity, aging and health in global perspective: A review

Abstract

Persistent population aging worldwide is focusing attention on modifiable factors that can improve later life health. There is evidence that religiosity and spirituality are among such factors. Older people tend to have high rates of involvement in religious and/or spiritual endeavors and it is possible that population aging will be associated with increasing prevalence of religious and spiritual activity worldwide. Despite increasing research on religiosity, spirituality and health among older persons, population aging worldwide suggests the need for a globally integrated approach. As a step toward this, we review a subset of the literature on the impact of religiosity and spirituality on health in later life. We find that much of this has looked at the relationship between religiosity/spirituality and longevity as well as physical and mental health. Mechanisms include social support, health behaviors, stress and psychosocial factors. We identify a number of gaps in current knowledge. Many previous studies have taken place in the U.S. and Europe. Much data is cross-sectional, limiting ability to make causal inference. Religiosity and spirituality can be difficult to define and distinguish and the two concepts are often considered together, though on balance religiosity has received more attention than spirituality. The latter may however be equally important. Although there is evidence that religiosity is associated with longer life and better physical and mental health, these outcomes have been investigated separately rather than together such as in measures of health expectancy. In conclusion, there is a need for a unified and nuanced approach to understanding how religiosity and spirituality impact on health and longevity within a context of global aging, in particular whether they result in longer healthy life rather than just longer life.

Spirituality and Health: A Middle Eastern Perspective

“…Furthermore, in both Western and Middle Eastern contexts, spiritual care is broader than religion and founded on respect for the beliefs and values of each individual (Jafari et al 2014a). More research exploring the similarities and differences between conceptualizations of spirituality in different religious contexts, and across Western and non-Western settings, would be useful to progress knowledge in this field (Heydari et al 2016;Zimmer et al 2016). Furthermore, research investigating the delivery of appropriate models of spiritual care are warranted.…”

Healthy aging from the perspective of the elderly: an integrative review

“…There is evidence that older people tend to be more religious than younger people 32 . Still, the elderly who live with chronic diseases often have a need to feel close to a higher power which gives them the strength to face difficulties 33 .…”

“…Religiousness and spirituality can contribute to healthier lifestyles by assigning negative points of view to the consumption of drugs and alcoholic beverages, tobacco use and nonmarital sex, among others 32 . In addition, they can make it possible to deal with stressful life events 30 , contribute to overcoming adversities, such as the loss of loved ones, the loss of physical abilities, and promote meaning in life.…”

George Fitchett & Steve Nolan, (eds.). (2015). Spiritual Care in Practice. Case Studies in Healthcare Chaplaincy. An Analysis, Commentary and the Implications for Person-Centered Healthcare. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishing. ISBN 978-84905-976-3

“…Commentators' opinions on what the case studies contributed to healthcare chaplaincy and to the care of the patient in general were also sought. With reference to these criteria and the overall inclusion requirements, nine chaplains were subsequently selected for participation in the project and a range of commentators recruited, contributing cases and commentaries in the fields of paediatrics (chapters 1-5), psychiatry (chapters 6-10) and palliative care (chapters [11][12][13][14][15].…”

“…Regrettably, there appears at the time of writing little appetite within the WHO, as currently constituted, to embark on a revision of the current definition of health which would see key references to dynamics and spirituality included. It is true that a definitional consensus on how spirituality should be defined has yet to achieve international consensus [9][10][11] and it is likewise true that the field of complexity science in health is itself underdeveloped, though it is rapidly attracting greater interest and finding common ground with preceding theories [7,8,12]. But given the current epidemic of longterm co-and multimorbid, socially complex illnesses, identified not least by the WHO itself [13][14][15][16][17][18], and given that the importance of spiritual care as a dynamic part of modern approaches to the management of such conditions is increasingly acknowledged [19][20][21][22][23], a continued silence from the WHO on the need for a revision of its now essentially archaic definition of health remains difficult to understand.…”