Spiritual coping of older persons in Malta and Australia (part 2)

Part I presented the research methodology and the quantitative findings of this descriptive sequential explanatory study. Part 2 will discuss the qualitative findings that explain the impact of the use of spiritual coping strategies on institutionalised older persons. Participants were recruited from six institutions in Malta and Australia: four private homes (two in Australia, n=30; two in Malta, n=43) and two state residences in Malta (n=64). The residents (n=137; 103 women, 34 men), aged 72.8 years (mean) were all Roman Catholics, mobile and with a minimal residence of 6 months. The quantitative data (phase I) were collected by the Maltese version of the Spiritual Coping scale (SCS) ( Baldacchino and Buhagiar, 2003 ) while the qualitative data were collected through audiotaped face-to-face interviews (n=42) (phase II) and three focus groups (n=23) (phase III). The qualitative data generated three main themes, namely: self-empowerment through connectedness with God, self, others and nature; belongingness to the residence; and the finding of meaning and purpose in life or the perceived afterlife. Recommendations were made for integration of spirituality into nursing education and clinical practice; more frequent participation in the socio-religious activities at ward level; self-awareness exercises and support groups; and further crosscultural longitudinal studies.