Physical health and its relationship to psychological and spiritual well-being of the elderly women religious

• Main Author: Malieckal, Chinnamma T.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1997
• Subjects: Monastic and religious life of women; Aged women > Psychology; Health; Spiritual life; Aging > India; Counseling; Education; Educational Psychology
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/1801
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study determines the relationship between physical health and the psychological and spiritual well-being of the elderly religious women of India. It also investigates the moderating effect of age on the above-mentioned correlations. One hundred and thirty-five elderly women religious participated in this descriptive comparative correlational study. Eighty-six belonged to the young-old category (55-64 years) while forty-nine belonged to the old-old category (65 years and above). The instruments used in this study were De Vore Johnson Illness Survey (DJIS), Life Satisfaction Index (LSI), and the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS). The mean, standard deviations, and percentages were computed to determine the physical health status of the respondents, and their psychological, and spiritual well-being. Pearson r was used to determine the relationship of physical health with psychological and spiritual well-being. Fisher's Z was computed in determining the moderating effect of age on the aforementioned correlations between the variables. The results of this study revealed that the respondents experienced moderate physical health and a high level of psychological and spiritual well-being when taken as one group. A very similar pattern of health status was observed when the respondents were divided into groups of young-old and old-old. The findings showed no significant relationship between physical health and psychological well-being. A low significant positive correlation was indicated between physical health and spiritual well-being when the respondents were taken as one group. However, no significant correlation existed when they were categorized as young-old and old-old. It was revealed that age had no significant moderating effect on the correlations of physical health with the psychological and spiritual well-being of the respondents. This study arrived at the following conclusions:(1) The psychological and spiritual well-beings of the elderly women religious were independent of their physical health (2) The interactions of physical health with psychological and spiritual well-being of the nuns were not related to age and,(3) The SABS life style was effective in enhancing health in its three dimensions of the women religious.