Spiritual Needs of Older Adults Living with Dementia: An Integrative Review

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Katherine C Britt, University of Pennsylvania; Augustine CO Boateng, University of Pennsylvania; Hui Zhao, James Madison University; Francesca C Ezeokonkwo, James Madison University; Chad Federwitz, Western Colorado Community College; Fayron Epps, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2023-05-04
• Publisher: MDPI
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2023 by the authors.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11091319
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: HEALTHCARE
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 9
• Grant/Funding Information: This research was funded by the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Nursing Research (Grant #T32NR009356 [K.C.B.]). In addition, this work resulted from the development plan and activities of a career development award through the National Institute on Aging, a division of the National Institutes of Health (K23AG065452 [F.C.E.]). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. A.C.O.B. was funded by the Hillman Scholars in Nursing Innovation Fund at The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. K.C.B. is a Jonas Mental Health/Psychology Scholar 2021-2023 supported by Jonas Philanthropies.
• Keywords: PEOPLE; connectedness; successful aging; END; Alzheimer's; unmet needs; NURSES; Health Policy & Services; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; PERCEPTIONS; ADVANCED CANCER-PATIENTS; Science & Technology; peace; spiritual support; PALLIATIVE CARE; meaning; Health Care Sciences & Services; spiritual care; LIFE
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Nursing

Abstract

Older adults living with dementia experience progressive decline, prompting reliance on others for spiritual care and support. Despite a growing interest in studying persons living with dementia (PLwDs), empirical evidence on the spiritual needs of PLwDs has not been synthesized. Using the Whittemore and Knafl method, this integrative review examined the literature from 2000 to 2022 on the spiritual care needs of PLwDs. We sought to identify characteristics of the spiritual needs of PLwDs and ways to address them. The ATLA Religion, CINAHL, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Socindex databases were used to search the literature, and 12 peer-reviewed articles met the inclusion criteria. Spiritual care needs varied across studies. Overall, findings support the importance of identifying PLwDs’ religious and spiritual backgrounds to inform person-centered care. Spiritual needs were identified as verbal and non-verbal expressions related to past meaning and religious and spiritual background and were not consistently addressed in care. Providers reported observing spiritual distress in the mild stage prompting the need for spiritual care. There is a great need for dementia-specific spiritual assessment tools and spiritual care interventions to support spiritual well-being in dementia care. Spiritual care involves facilitating religious rituals and providing spiritual group therapy and religious and spiritual activities.