Spiritual and Religious Considerations in the Care of the Elderly

Abstract

Religiosity and spirituality are important elements in health determination, particularly in the well-being of elder population who are often reported to be more religious than the younger population. Their interaction is multifaceted and covers great potentials like coping and comfort and guide approaches to sensitive decisions like end-of-life and high-risk consenting. Moreover it has an impact on tolerance and enhancing recovery. They should not be considered as a substitute for a standard care rather as auxiliary to support care from different angles. Such an understanding should be expressed and shared by both entities the patient and the physician or care provider.

It is really hard to develop strong evidence of the impact; nevertheless as part of patient-centered care, health-care professionals should respect patients’ beliefs and respond to their religious services request. The spiritual support is underutilized nevertheless. We need to remember the potential benefits and beware of the possible drawbacks of involving spirituality and religiosity in patient care. At the end: “Religion is more than a collection of views and practices, and its value cannot be determined instrumentally; it is a spiritual way of being in the world (Sloan RP, Bagiella E, VandeCreek L, Hover M, Casalone C, Jinpu Hirsch T, Hasan Y, Kreger R, Poulos P. Should physicians prescribe religious activities? N Engl J Med. 2000;342(25):1913–6).” And so it will remain as such.