A spiritual well-being model: use with older women who experience depression

Although evidence exists to suggest an integral influence of one's spirit on one's mental health, few nurse theoreticians have attempted to delineate and include the concept of spirituality in their nursing models. In making practice decisions related to spiritual matters, mental health nurses require knowledge about the interface between spirituality and mental health. Many symptoms of depression, the most common mental health problem of older adults, parallel indications of spiritual distress. The author presents a spiritual well-being model that provides a framework to discuss the antecedents, symptoms, spiritual needs, and holistic treatment of depression as it is experienced by older women.