What is the Meaning of Life? Women's Spirituality at the End of the Life Span

Moremen, Robin D.

doi:10.2190/x36m-f7xq-penb-rfbf

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…In qualitative research regarding meaning in life, older persons speak about their losses, their struggle to overcome fear and depressive feelings, and the way they create meaning in adversity. 18,79,80 Especially when negative circumstances have impact on a highly valued social role, for example, mother or friend, it is difficult to find new meaning in life. 87 Older persons adapt to the negative situation based on their coping styles and using different coping strategies: Coping styles.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Through the way individuals create or discover meaning, they connect with self, others, and with something greater than oneself. 17,52,79 Meaning-finding is not an individual matter, it is interacting with society. 8,54,66,68,72,73,75,94 In our image of the river, the river does not exist on its own, but is part of nature, the universe, for example, connected with clouds, the earth, vegetation, and animals.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sources (44) Author, year, reference number Book (section) (18) Baars, 2011; 65 Baars and Phillipson, 2014; 66 Bateson, 2010; 54 Bohlmeijer, 2007; 67 De Lange, 2008; 68 Derkx, 2011; 8 Erikson and Erikson, 1998; 40 Greenstein and Holland, 2015; 55 Tromp, 2011; 69 Huizing and Tromp, 2015; 70 Marcoen, 2006; 52 McAdams, 2012; 71 Kaufman, 1986; 72 Reker and Wong, 1988; 73 Reker and Wong, 2012; 31 Tornstam, 2005; 56 Westerhof, 2010; 74 Westerhof et al, 2003 75 Research article (23) Qualitative 7Ebersole and De Paola, 1987; 76 De Paola and Ebersole, 1995; 77 Thomas et al, 1990; 78 Dwyer et al, 2008; 18 Moremen, 2005; 79 Dittmann-Kohli, 1990; 80 Moore et al, 2006 17 Quantitative 13Alea and Bluck, 2013; 81 Prager, 1996; 82 Reker and Woo, 2011; 57 Fegg et al, 2007; 83 Bar-Tur et al, 2001; 84 Van Ranst and Marcoen, 1996; 85 Pinquart, 2002; 59 Phillips and Ferguson, 2013; 86 Krause, 2004; 87 Krause and Hayward, 2012; 88 Braam et al, 2006; 89 Clarke et al, 2000; 60 Haugan, 2013 46…”

Section: How Do Older Persons Find Meaning?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Meaning in life of older persons: An integrative literature review

et al. 2016

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Background: Meaning in life of older persons is related to well-being, health, quality of life, and “good life.” However, the topic is scarcely covered in nursing literature. Objective: The aim of this integrative review for nurses is to synthesize knowledge from scholarly literature to provide insight into how older persons find meaning in life, what are influencing circumstances, and what are their sources of meaning. The review serves as a starting point for including meaning in life of older persons as a major concern for nurses in their role as health promoters. Method: An integrative review was performed including empirical research literature and texts on theoretical perspectives. Ethical consideration: Researches agree with ethical codes for research of universities in the Netherlands. For literature reviews no additional procedures are necessary according to Dutch law. Findings: A total of 44 heterogeneous texts were included in this review. Finding meaning in life is challenging for older persons. Older persons find meaning through a developmental process, by creating and discovering. Meaning in life is found in connection with self and others. Health, living together, high socio-economic status, social relations, activities, and religion are associated with experiencing meaning in later life. The main source of meaning in life of older persons is human relationships. Other sources of meaning in life vary by age and culture. Discussion: The review provides insight into meaning in life of older persons. There are several gaps in knowledge: literature is culturally biased, research on discovery of meaning and daily meaning is limited, and research from a nursing perspective is lacking. In practice, nurses have many opportunities to attune to meaning in life of patients. Further development of competence and training are needed. Conclusion: Older persons find meaning in life through different processes. Meaning in life is associated with the circumstances old persons live in. Human relationship is the major source of meaning. The knowledge from this review is a necessary knowledge base for nurses to include meaning in life of older patients in care. Further research is needed to explore the role of nurses.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: How Do Older Persons Find Meaning?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Meaning in life of older persons: An integrative literature review

et al. 2016

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“…It can be argued that women's lives involve a series of transitions through aging, family development, and other unexpected life events (R. L. Harris et al, 1986;Reinke et al, 1985). Exploring the meaning of religion and spirituality among older adult women (aged 55 and above), Moremen (2005) found that women used their spirituality as a venue for connection to the self, others, and the world, as well as a method of placing themselves in the greater context of the world. Among menopausal women, Steffen (2011) identified spiritual strength as a correlate of lower menopausal symptoms and higher adaptive coping.…”

Section: Religion/spirituality Identity and Sense Of Selfmentioning

confidence: 99%

“All the Different Pieces of Me Being Integrated”: Religion/Spirituality and Identity in Working Christian Mothers

Laney

Carruthers

Hall³

et al. 2021

Journal of Psychology and Theology

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The current qualitative study explored experiences of religion/spirituality and their impact on women’s identities among Christian working mothers in academia. Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted and the data analyzed using the grounded theory method. The resultant themes reflected the roles and functions of religion/spirituality in women’s lives and in their identities, primarily by establishing a core sense of self that unified all of their roles and “selves.” Religion/spirituality also served as meaning-making frameworks that provided purpose both to the self and to each of the women’s roles, while religion/spirituality also pervaded every aspect of the self, coloring women’s experience and driving their decisions. Further, women discussed religion/spirituality providing a sense of purpose by which they could pursue actualization and transcendence through generative means in each of their roles. The results indicate that spiritual identity may be a broader and more fundamental element of identity than previously considered. Implications of the current data and suggestions for future research are discussed.

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“…The terms most often used have to do with the notion that there is "meaning making" that occurs at the end of life (Meyer, 1998). The studies done by nurses, chaplains, psychologists, and social workers are almost always qualitative studies with fewer than 20 interviews (McGrath, 2003;Kaut, 2002;Moremen, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%