Exploring the experience of spirituality in older women

The spiritual domain or spirituality of the individual is an area that is currently being researched with increasing frequency. Spirituality is a multifaceted concept that appears to increase in importance with aging and is often defined as finding meaning in life. Research in the area of spirituality is lacking especially as it relates to older women. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe spirituality in the lives of older women and to examine the effects of age, marital status, health, religion and education on spirituality. The design of this study was nonexperimental correlational. A convenience sample of 210 older women ranging in age from a reported 61 years to 102 years completed the JAREL Spiritual Well-Being Scale and a demographic data sheet. The JAREL Spiritual Well-Being Scale is a 21- item tool that was developed to assess spiritual well-being in older adults. Spirituality seems to be an important component in these women\u27s lives, however, the results of this study did not demonstrate that spirituality increased as women got older. Women who were married had a higher significant mean total spirituality score than the women who were not married. In addition, women who were healthy had higher factor spirituality scores. Surprisingly, women who attended college (54% of the sample) also had higher factor spirituality scores. Successful aging as a goal for older women becomes very meaningful as the population continues to age. Considerable research needs to be conducted in order that new knowledge will be used to influence successful aging in the area of spirituality