Spiritual Care of the Elderly

This chapter focuses on spiritual development that occurs in later life, and ways in which spiritual development can be supported at the end of life. Therefore, the chapter addresses the spiritual dimension and especially a model of Spiritual Tasks and Process of Ageing to describe the final life career or journey into death from a spiritual perspective. A broad basis is used for discussion of the spiritual dimension, taking account of both religious aspects and secular understandings of the spiritual in later life. The chapter explores factors such as narrative, self-transcendence, suffering, relationship, searching for final meanings, and hope. Examples of people experiencing the final life journey are provided with excerpts from research that have explored the importance of inner strength in this final stage of life. Examples are mostly drawn from older frail people, who were living and dying from mainly chronic and complex disease conditions, common to later life.