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Potential Mechanisms Of Influence Between Spiritual Practices And Cognitive Health: A Systematic Review And Conceptual Model, Katherine Carroll Britt, Hayoung Oh, Augustine Cassis Obeng Boateng, Sherry Morgan, Sato Ashida, Corey Nagel, Roland J Thorpe, Harold G Koenig

Staff and Researcher Publications

Background/Objectives: This systematic review summarizes the evidence regarding potential mechanisms underlying the relationship between spiritual practices and cognitive health in adults. The review was performed based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist.

Methods: An extensive search of six electronic databases (i.e., PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase, Sociological Abstracts, ATLA, CINAHL) was conducted using keywords related to spiritual practices, religious activities, and cognitive health from 1 January 2000 to December 2025. The quality of the included studies was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal tool aligned with the study design.

Results: A total of …

Spiritual Care Competency Of Critical Care Nurses: A Literature Review, Julia O. Rohm

Bachelors of Science in Nursing

While caring for their patients, nurses often encounter spiritual needs. In a study with 241 hospice, palliative care, and holistic nurses, “all respondents (100%) indicated they had encountered a patient with spiritual needs throughout their nursing clinical practice” (Lukovsky et al., 2021, p. 32). Despite the prevalence of spiritual needs, many nurses feel unable to confront spiritual issues among their patients. According to a survey conducted among 4054 nurses from the UK, “almost 93% of the nurses surveyed believed spiritual care should be addressed, yet only 5.3% felt always able to meet the spiritual need of patients on a regular …

Spirituality Integrated Interventions For Caregivers Of Patients With Terminal Illness: A Systematic Review Of Quantitative Outcomes, Yongqiang Zheng, Anna Cox Cotton, Longtao He, Leslie Wuest

Faculty Publications - College of Social Work

This systematic review of published quantitative research was conducted to explore the effects of spirituality-integrated interventions for informal caregivers of terminally ill patients. Multiple databases were searched for articles published between January 2004 and November 2019. Twelve randomized controlled trials were identified. Methodological quality was assessed using the revised Cochrane Collaboration’s tool for assessing risk of bias. Studies were notably diverse in terms of spiritual background, intervention design, technology used, and outcomes measures. Spirituality-integrated interventions were found to show positive outcomes for caregivers. However, methodological flaws negatively affected the quality of most studies, warranting further and rigorous research into the …

Efficacy Of A Collaborative, Spiritual Care Educational Intervention To Enhance Nurses' Spiritual Care Attitudes, Cheryl A. Westlake, Jane Pfeiffer

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Patients' spiritual needs can be addressed by nurses; however, spiritual-care provision barriers include nurses' spiritual-care attitudes. The abstract describes the efficacy of a hospital nurse researcher/university faculty member-provided two-hour/spiritual-care intervention using values clarification/spiritual timeline exercises, and content regarding spirituality/spiritual needs/spiritual-care interventions with case study application to enhance nurses' spiritual-care attitudes.

Spirituality, Religiosity, And Perceived Ability To Provide Spiritual Care In Nursing Students, Shannon O'Connell-Persaud

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objective. The objective of this study was to explore nursing students’ spirituality, religiosity, and perceived ability to provide spiritual care. Background. Nursing students must be prepared to respond to a patient’s spiritual needs. A gap in knowledge exists as to the educational preparedness necessary to provide a nursing student with the ability to respond to a patient’s spiritual need. To address the gap, this study explored the relationships between nursing students’ spirituality, religiosity, and perceived ability to provide spiritual care. Study Setting and Sample. This multi-site study used two accredited nursing programs located in the Western Region of the United …

Among Master Of Social Work Students, What Has A Higher Impact On Levels Of Stress: Spirituality, Physical Activity, Or Self-Compassion, Tania Garcia Avalos, Jose Murillo

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The main objective of this study was to determine which coping mechanisms have a higher impact on levels of stress in MSW graduate students. The distinctive aspect of this study was that the three primary points that were examined in MSW graduate students were spirituality, physical activity, and self-compassion. This study gathered quantitative data from students that were enrolled in the Master of Social Work program. There were a total of 102 participants in this study. A variety of bivariate analyses were conducted to assess the collected data. Significant outcomes from this study revealed that self-compassion was the best mitigator …

How Is Chaplaincy Marginalised-By Our Faith Communities And By Our Institutions And Can We Change It?, Jeffrey Cohen

Medical Papers and Journal Articles

This paper reviews the issues confronting chaplaincy/spiritual care in the 21st century. It looks at how faith communities are changing their view of chaplaincy as well how institutions respond. The paper looks at two qualitative studies and what can be learned from them in confronting the questions raised at the beginning. It concludes with the question of how the evidence base can be expanded to make chaplaincy/spiritual care more relevant over the next few years.

Narratives Of Baby Boomers: Envisioning Late Life Spiritual Resources, Jane A. Kuepfer

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

ABSTRACT:

In this narrative inquiry, first-wave baby boomers (six males and six females born between 1946 and 1955) reflected on their lives and envisioned living into old age. While literature has focused on trends in baby boomer spirituality, issues of aging, and spiritual needs and tasks among elders, this study listened for “spiritual resources.” Initially defined broadly as that which has sustained a person throughout their life and will sustain them in the future, spiritual resources came to be understood as those things, both internal and external, that address deep human need for such spiritual values as love, hope, peace, …

The Development Of A New Model For Assessing African-American Spirituality In Palliative Care, John C. Welch

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research has shown that African-Americans are least likely to receive adequate palliative interventions leading to concerns about the quality of health care in general and palliative care in particular for this population. Acknowledging patient preferences are essential in administering quality health care especially when a patient's condition is terminal. But when African-Americans are least likely to complete living wills or durable power of attorneys for health care and more likely to continue to request life sustaining treatments when near death, conflicts between patients and medical professionals can result.

Recognizing patient spirituality and addressing their spiritual needs can help the patient, …

Spiritual Frameworks In Pediatric Palliative Care: Understanding Parental Decision-Making, Lindy Grief Davidson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Parents of seriously ill children are charged with making complicated medical decisions, and many of those decisions are made during their children’s hospitalizations. As medical staff seek to support parents, it is important for them to understand what resources parents are drawing upon for decision-making. This project explored parental decision-making by examining the following research questions: RQ1: What resources do parents draw upon to make medical decisions for their seriously ill children? RQ2: How do parents enact their spiritual or religious frameworks in clinical settings when faced with medical decisions for their seriously ill children? Methods of research included ethnographic …

Exploring Of Action Reflection Teaching To Nursing Students' Spiritual Status And Reflection In The Course Of Spiritual Nursing For Elders, Ya Lie Ku, Jen-Kuei Ko, Pi-Yu Lee

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Session presented on Wednesday, July 24, 2013:

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore action reflection teaching to nursing students' spiritual status and reflection in the course of spiritual nursing for elders.

Methods: The first period was preparation period for the researcher and two faculties in the long-term care for the elders and three two- years nursing students to construct the process of life-review and reminiscence activities for the elders. The second period was conducting period for the researcher to inspire nursing students reflecting and experiencing the meaning of each unit in the course of spiritual nursing for …