The Role of Spiritual Experience, Forgiveness, and Religious Support on the General Well-Being of Older Adults

This study explored the role of spiritual experience, forgiveness, and religious support on the general well-being of older adults by interviewing 143 persons 65 years old or older in Kansas. Hierarchical regression results show that higher spiritual experience is significantly associated with lower anxiety, higher positive well-being, and higher vitality of older adults. On the other hand, lack of driving capability and living alone are significantly related to a decrease in the well-being of older adults, but financial support is associated with an increase of well-being. This study suggests that social work practitioners and health care providers need to carefully assess the religious/spiritual issues of older clients. To maximize the strengths of older clients coping with health problems, religious/spiritual intervention that fits the clients' interests needs to be offered with their permission.