Spiritual Health Program

Having a spiritual component in one's life has demonstrated improvement with coping abilities, reduction in stress levels, decreased pain and improved quality of life. Educating healthcare professionals on spiritual matters and its positive outcomes can assist older adults in navigating the many challenges that come with aging. Unfortunately, many healthcare professionals working with adults have not been educated on the importance and significance that spirituality can play at this time of life (Lavertsky, H. 2010). The overarching goal for this project is to improve the quality of life of older adults through the development and delivery of a spiritual training program for healthcare professionals. The Nature of Spirit Program was developed to educate healthcare professionals about spiritual interventions and their benefits for older adults. The project followed the Health Belief Model, Adult Learning Theory, and Social Learning Theory. The training was a pilot project presented to healthcare professionals recruited from the Utah Coalition for Caregiver Support. A Power Point presentation was utilized to educate participants about spiritual interventions. Pre and post questionnaires were used to measure what the participants learned during and after training. Additionally, the participants completed the FICA Spiritual History Tool and a demographic information sheet. The results of the questionnaires indicated that after participating in the training, participants had an increased awareness and understanding of the effectiveness of spirituality based interventions. The insights gained from this pilot program may equip healthcare professionals to provide more holistic care.