Traditional conceptions of cognitive development have failed to account for changes in adult cognition as well as more subjective and intuitive features of human experience. This paper reviews recent theories and research in cognitive development and spirituality with the aim of providing connections between the two domains. Neo-Piagetian and postformal theories of cognitive development suggest...

BACKGROUND Studies have found higher levels of insecure attachment in individuals with schizophrenia. Attachment theory provides a framework necessary for conceptualizing the development of interpersonal functioning. Some aspects of the attachment of the believer to his/her spiritual figure are similar to those between the child and his/her parents. The correspondence hypothesis suggests that e...

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To determine to what degree the spiritual needs of patients near the end of life are met. DESIGN Descriptive. SETTING One inpatient and five outpatient hospices. SAMPLE 62 female and 38 male hospice patients with a mean age of 67 years; 74% were dying from cancer. METHODS Each subject completed the Spiritual Needs Inventory and rated life satisfaction via the Cantril ...

BACKGROUND Provision of spiritual/religious (S/R) care has been associated with improvements in patient care, patient-provider relationships, and resource utilization. Clinicians identify a lack of training in S/R care as the primary impediment. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of one-day, simulation-based workshops to prepare interprofessional clinicians to function a...

AIM To determine the effects of a course for nursing students on developing competence in spiritual care and the factors that might influence the effects. BACKGROUND Studies suggest that role preparation in nursing for spiritual care is poor. For the assessment of competence, few or no explicit competency framework or assessment tools seemed to be used. DESIGN Quasi-experimental crossover d...

After Christians, Muslims represent the largest religious grouping in the UK. According to census statistics, there are approximately 1.6 million Muslims in the UK, approximately 54% of who were born outside of the UK. There has been emerging interest in the use of traditional healers by South Asians in the UK. Early studies by Aslam3 and Healey & Aslam4 focused upon health seeking behaviour am...

Seven major constructs—belonging, meaning, hope, the sacred, morality, beauty, and acceptance of dying—were revealed in an analysis of the literature pertaining to patient spiritual needs. The authors embedded these constructs within a 29-item survey designed to be inclusive of traditional religion, as well as non–institutional-based spirituality. This article describes the development of a mul...