The Prevalence of Prayer as a Spiritual Self-Care Modality in Elders

The purpose of this cross-sectional, descriptive study was to (a) investigate whether elders report using prayer as a coping strategy, (b) examine the frequency and type of spiritual treatment modalities used by elders, and (c) determine if there is a relationship between spiritual treatment modalit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of holistic nursing 2000-12, Vol.18 (4), p.337-351
Main Authors: Dunn, Karen S., Horgas, Ann L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
Aged - psychology
Aged, 80 and over
Analysis of Variance
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Holistic medicine
Humans
Male
Midwestern United States
Nursing
Older people
Personality Inventory
Pilot Projects
Prayer
Prevalence
Religion
Self Care - methods
Spirituality
Stress, Psychological - psychology
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Summary:The purpose of this cross-sectional, descriptive study was to (a) investigate whether elders report using prayer as a coping strategy, (b) examine the frequency and type of spiritual treatment modalities used by elders, and (c) determine if there is a relationship between spiritual treatment modalities and coping in this population. The sample consisted of 50 community-dwelling elders with a mean age of 74 years. Descriptive findings indicate that 96% of elders use prayer to cope with stress based on the Jalowiec Coping Scale. Women and Blacks used prayer to cope with stress significantly more often than did men and Whites. The most frequently reported alternative treatment modality was prayer (84%). The total number of spiritual treatment modalities reported was significantly correlated with the frequent use of more positive coping styles.
ISSN:0898-0101
1552-5724
DOI:10.1177/089801010001800405