Spirituality and religiosity of the elderly

Duhovnost i religioznost pojmovi su koji se često definiraju kao sinonimi iako svakako zahtjevaju razlikovanje među njima prilikom proučavanja i istraživanja. Sve je više u socijalnom radu zastupljen pojam duhovnosti i duhovne dimenzije čovjeka, kao i duhovne potrebe koje izviru iz te dimenzije, a zahtjevaju zadovoljenje. Duhovna dimenzija postaje istaknutija u starosti te su i same potrebe izraženije u trećoj dobi. Starost sa sobom nosi mnogo neodgovorenih pitanja i nezadovoljenih potreba za koje možemo reći kako jesu upravo duhovne potrebe i duhovni zadaci. Pojam duhovno osjetljiva praksa novina je u socijalnom radu, ali je svakako područje koje otvara nove mogućnosti rada posebice sa starijim osobama. Također, omogućava kvalitetniju i cjelovitu skrbi o starijoj osobi. Duhovno procjenjivanje samo je jedan od alata koji su na raspolaganju socijalnim radnicima kako bi unaprijedili i usavršili svoj pristup u radu sa starijim osobama. Socijalni radnici, kao i druge pomagačke profesije, trebaju biti usmjereni i na vlastitu edukaciju radi stjecanja potrebnog znanja i vještina za kvalitetan duhovno osjetljivi pristup u svrhu zadovoljenja potreba specifičnih za stariju životnu dob.Spirituality and religiosity are terms that are often defined as synonyms, although they certainly require differentiation between them when studying and researching. The notion of spirituality and the spiritual dimension of man, as well as the spiritual needs that arise from that dimension, and which demand satisfaction, are increasingly represented in social work. The spiritual dimension becomes more prominent in old age and the needs themselves are more pronounced in the third age. Age brings with it many unanswered questions and unmet needs that we can say are spiritual needs and spiritual tasks. The term spiritually sensitive practice is a novelty in social work, but it is certainly an area that opens up new opportunities in the field of social work especially with the elderly. It also provides complete care with high quality for the elderly. Spiritual assessment is just one of the tools available to social workers to improve and refine their approach to working with the elderly. Social workers, as well as other assisting professions, should also be focused on their own education in order to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills for a quality spiritually sensitive approach in order to meet the needs of older people