Affiliates and Non-Affiliates in Later Life
The purpose of this study was to examine the types, meanings, and benefits of spiritual practices among older adults and to discuss their implications for well-being. In-depth interviews were conducted with 122 individuals, with an average age of 77. Of these, 102 were highly involved in churches or synagogues, and 20 were atheists, agnostics, secular humanists, or religiously indifferent. The chapter’s authors found a wide array of activities identified by respondents as spiritual practices, ranging from the anticipated (prayer, participating in corporate worship, reading) to the more novel (attending long-distance Bible study groups via Skype, watercolor painting). They also found an overlap between the religious and the nonreligious older adults in many spiritual practices. Most respondents reported that their spiritual practices had increased with age. Respondents perceived significant benefits from their spiritual practices. Too often, health practitioners have not been sensitive to the benefits of spiritual practices in the lives of older adults.