Spiritual Needs of Elderly Living in Residential/Nursing Homes
Table 1
Sociodemographic and psychometric data of 100 interviewed elderly.
Variables
Mean/%
Age (mean ± SD)
84 ± 7
Gender (%)
Men
18
Women
82
Family status (%)
Married
13
Single/divorced
19
Widowed
68
Access to family (%)
88
Education level (%)*
Primary/secondary
55
(Junior) high school
45
Denomination (%)
Christian
84
None
16
Self-perceived religiosity (%)
Religious
35
Not religious
56
Undecided
9
Type of institution (%)
Residential home
73
Assisted accommodation
20
Residential nursing home
7
Self-care abilities (%)
Independent
28
Largely independent
27
Only with help
45
Religious trust (SpREUK; mean ± SD; range 0–100)
38 ± 29
Daily life affections (VAS; mean ± SD; range 0–100)
44 ± 27
Life satisfaction (BMLSS; mean ± SD; range 0–100)
68 ± 13
Life satisfaction (FSQM; mean ± SD; range 1–6)
4.2 ± 0.9
Results are means ± standard deviation (SD) or percentage of the respective sociodemographic or psychometric variables. Categorization of education level has to be interpreted with caution because it refers to the conditions of the time period from 1920 to 1950 with limited access to higher education. BMLSS: Brief Multidimensional Life Satisfaction Scale; FLQM: “quality of life in elders with multimorbidity” questionnaire; SpREUK: “Spiritual and Religious Attitudes in Dealing with Illness” questionnaire; VAS: visual analogue scale.
