Resources Page

This page contains resources produced by or presented at recent seminars, conferences and gatherings. They are available for your use with due consideration to intellectual property rights and copyright rules. They are placed in chronological order, the latest first.

[November 2006]

Ageing, Disability and Spirituality Conference 2006 - Resources

Prof. John Swinton's Power Point Presentation.

Download PPS file (61K)

CDs and DVD

CDs and DVDs of Main Speakers' presentations available. Presentation Order form pdf (262K)

[August 2005]

Models of Spirituality in Later Life (Elizabeth MacKinlay)

Fig 1.1

Spirituality: Ultimate Meaning Mediated through Relationship, Religion, Environment, The Arts.

Click on the image to download a larger version in pdf format (Adobe Reader 5.0 or better needed). 63KB

Fig 1.2

Spirituality in later life: Tasks—A continuing process

Click on the image to download a larger version in pdf format (Adobe Reader 5.0 or better needed). 331KB




Fig 1.3

Spiritual Tasks of Ageing for Christians

Click on the image to download a larger version in pdf format (Adobe Reader 5.0 or better needed). 356KB

[December 2004]

A Set of Powerpoint Slides by Professor Linda Kristjanson.

This set of slides is available as a zipped powerpoint document. Click here to download. [zip file 1.1 MB]

Assessment Resources

An Assessment of Spiritual Needs of Older Adults:
First level assessment
Level one assessment is to be done as part of the admission process on entry of the person to residential aged care, it may be self administered, or completed by family or staff. This provides a screening for immediate spiritual needs and referral where needed.

Please download a copy by clicking here (pdf file 12Kb)

An Assessment of Spiritual Needs of Older Adults
Level two assessment is for administration by chaplain, pastoral carer, or nurse or other aged care worker with a background in spiritual care. This can be completed later and can be done in stages.

Please download a copy by clicking here pdf file 23kb

more info...

More Resources

The resources below are reprinted by permission of the author, Harriet Mowat. The resources arise from the 2004 Conference on Spirituality and Ageing, Adelaide.

Successful Ageing and the Spiritual Journey: a view from Scotland

This paper offers a theory of successful ageing that makes central the spiritual journey. In our current Scottish society, as with most European countries, ageing is seen as something to be feared and rejected, something to be ignored, something that happens to other people, a problem to “fix” through social, economic or health policy or a biological mistake that will eventually be rectified through scientific endeavour. All these reactions can be understood as a fear of death and the instinctual drive towards denial of death. For in a secular environment the reality of death has the potential to render life meaningless. Meaning of life questions, in our current society, are bound up with maintenance of youth and continuity of ‘youthful’ practice. When illness occurs, as it does increasingly with old age, the individual is required, mostly unwillingly, to reflect on his or her position and the meaning of his/ her life in a wider context. The old order gives way to a new one. The questions posed by TS Eliot - ‘What does life mean’ and ‘what are we going to do about it’ - loom large as the youthful well- being and confidence gives way to middle aged angst.

Both Carl Jung and Viktor Frankl offer us a vision of humanity that moves away from reductionism and biological drives. Both offer us the opportunity to see human beings as essentially spiritual. Frankl suggests that human beings are spiritual beings with an irreducible core. This is expressed in a spiritual unconscious. The spiritual unconscious allows the conscience to relate to what is not yet, whereas the conscious mind can only relate to what is or what has been. The essence of the spiritual being is self transcendence.

If we take Frankl’s irreducible spiritual core as given, then the task for the individual, the ageing individual, is to discover and negotiate individual meaning even when confronted with what he calls the tragic triad of pain guilt and death. The task of old age and its fundamental purpose is therefore to search for meaning through a search for spiritual self. This is what Jung would have called individuation, Antonovsky would call coherence and Erikson would call ego integrity. The search for and maintenance of self can take place through remembrance. The remembrance of self is part of the manifestation of “attitude” that Frankl speaks of.

Older people can become caught up in institutional responses to their care that compromise their spiritual journey. This can be within formal institutions such as residential care or hospital care or less obvious institutions such as community care and family care. The remembrance of self is a task that is meaningful only when it is seen as the route to self transcendence. The will to meaning is stimulated through the search for self and transcendence. The fundamental role of those working with older people is thus to maintain and sustain the self in the very situations that compromise that self.

Abstract of paper delivered to Expert Seminar Successful Ageing,
Theological University of Kampen, Holland
14th May, 2004
Harriet Mowat : Mowat Research Ltd.
Honorary Senior Lecturer, Centre for the Study of Spirituality and Health
University of Aberdeen

Ageing, Health Care and the Spiritual Imperative: a view from Scotland: Dr Harriet Mowat

The text of Dr Mowat's presentation is available as a pdf document (188KB). The document is read-only and may be printed but not altered. Download here

References for Presentation by Dr H. Mowat

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Culliford, L. (2002) ‘Spiritual care And Psychiatric Treatment: an introduction’. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment 8, 249-261

Cumming, Elaine and Henry W.E. ( 1961) Growing Old: The process of disengagement. New York: Basic Books.

De Mello Anthony ( 1997) The heart of the enlightened: A book of story meditations Fount/Harper Collins

Durkheim E (2002) Suicide: A study in Sociology Routledge London and New York. First Published 1897

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Hay, D. and Hunt K. (2000) The Spirituality of People who don’t go to church. Final Report. Adult Spirituality Project: Nottingham University

Jewell Albert ( 2004) Ageing, Spirituality and Well Being. Jessica Kingsley

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Kirkwood Tom (1999) Time of our lives Blackwells

Kitwood T ( 1997) Dementia Reconsidered Open University Press

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Mowat, H. and Ryan, D (2003) ‘Spirited Scotland. Ideas into policy and policy into practice: implications for older people’. Journal of Spiritual Gerontology forthcoming

Orchard, H. (2001) Spirituality in Health Care Contexts. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Peck, S ( 1987) The Different Drum. London: Arrow Books Limited.

Pickard S (eds) Ageing Spirituality and Pastoral Care: a multi national perspective

Reid, H. (2002) Outside Verdict: An Old Kirk In A New Scotland. Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press.

Rowe and Kahn (1997)

Rowe J. W. and Kahn, R.L. (1997) ‘Sucessful Ageing’ The Gerontologist 37, 4, 433-440

Ryan D (2003) ‘Spirituality: integrating self, system and environment in contemporary Scottish Health Care?’ Paper to conference Spirituality in contemporary Scotland Glasgow University 21-22 February

Seeber James (ed) (1990) Spiritual maturity in later life Binghampton New York : The Haworth Press

Seeber, J.J. (Ed) ‘Spiritual Maturity in the Later Years’. Birmingham, New York: Haworth Press.

Speck P (2001) Spirituality and Well being in women over 45 years. Pennell Initiative for Women’s Health

Swinton J. ( 2001) Spirituality and Mental Health Care: Rediscovering a ‘Forgotten’ Dimension Jessica Kingsley

Swinton, J. (2001) Spirituality and Mental Health Care: rediscovering a ‘forgotten’ dimension. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers

Walter, T. (1997) ‘The ideology and organization of spiritual care: three approaches’. Palliative Medicine 11, 21-30

Woodward K (2003)' Against Wisdom: the social politics of anger and aging' Journal of Aging Studies Feb vol 17 no 1

Woodward, K (1991) Ageing and its Discontents: Freud and other fictions. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University

www.abdn.ac.uk/cssh/

www.chaplains.co.uk

www.scotland.gov.uk

www.spiritedscotland.org