Spiritual Needs of Elderly Living in Residential/Nursing Homes
Table 2
Ranking of specific needs.
Item number
Stated needs
Mean
SD
Related factor
N6
Plunge into beauty of nature
2.23
1.00
IP
N25
Feel connected with family
1.89
1.26
—
N4
Reflect previous life
1.56
1.17
EN
N13
Turn to someone in a loving attitude
1.52
1.24
IP
N24
Being complete and safe
1.38
1.29
—
N29
Invited for private meetings by friends again
1.26
1.18
—
N14
Give away something from yourself
1.25
1.24
(GG)
N15
Solace someone
1.09
1.20
GG
N20
Pray for yourself
1.01
1.10
RN
N9
Listen to touching music
0.99
1.12
—
N26
Pass own life experiences to others
0.98
1.06
GG
N21
Participate at a religious ceremony
0.94
1.10
RN
N7
Dwell at a place of quietness and peace
0.91
1.20
IP
N2
Talk with others about fears and worries
0.70
1.12
IP
N23
Turn to a higher presence
0.70
1.10
RN
N1
Receive more attention
0.69
1.11
—
N8
Find inner peace
0.67
1.11
IP
N11
Talk with someone about the question of meaning in life
0.55
1.00
EN
N28
Reinvolved by family in their life concerns
0.43
0.90
—
N10
Find meaning in illness and/or suffering
0.41
0.84
EN
N5
Dissolve open aspects of your life
0.37
0.87
(EN)
N22
Read religious/spiritual books
0.28
0.72
RN
N30
Receive more support from your family
0.28
0.75
—
N17
Be forgiven
0.26
0.72
(IP)
N16
Forgive someone from a distinct period of your life
0.23
0.68
EN
N12
Talk with someone about the possibility of life after death
0.22
0.66
EN
N18
Pray with someone
0.19
0.60
RN
N3
Someone of your community (i.e., priest, chaplain) cares for you
0.15
0.52
(RN)
N19
Someone prays for you
0.11
0.49
RN
Results are means ± standard deviation (SD) of the respective needs (range: 0–3). The items refer to the following factors: religious needs (RN), existential needs (EN), inner peace needs (IP), and giving/generativity (GG); some items are additional items which are not regarded as spiritual needs.
