The essential elements of spirituality among rural Thai elders

The purpose of the study reported here was to understand and describe the essential elements of spirituality among rural Thai elders. The research question that guided the study was: How do rural Thai elders experience and describe spirituality in their daily lives? This question was explored through in-depth, audio-taped, face-to-face interviews with 12 rural Thai elders living in the Nakhorn Prathom Province in the central part of Thailand during the period from January to March 1998. Prior to implementing the study, approval to conduct this study was granted from the Institutional Review Broad of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Through the process of hermeneutic phenomenological data analysis, three categories and nine themes emerged. The findings of the study provide a knowledge base for Thai nurses to explore and explain spirituality to enhance nursing science and provide holistic nursing care. Further research should be conducted throughout the health and illness continuum with all age groups and with individuals of different cultures and belief systems.