The Relationship between Spiritual Health and Loneliness among the Elderly in Karaj- 2016

For downloading the full-text of this article please click here.Background and Objective: Loneliness, which is a common problem among the elderly, severely affects their health. Spiritual health plays an important role in the degree and quality of loneliness among the seniors. This study was conducted to explore the relationship between spiritual health and loneliness among the elderly people in Karaj in 2016.Method: This cross-sectional study adopted a descriptive-analytical design. Through simple sampling method, 275 people who attended seniors’ care center in Karaj took part in the study. Standard questionnaires were used to assess the participants’ spiritual health and loneliness. All the collected data were codified. Measures of central tendency and dispersion and Pearson correlation were used for data analysis. All ethical issues were observed and the researchers declared no conflict of interests.Results: In total, 71% (n=196) of respondents were male, most of them (93%=256 participants) were married, 56% (n=154) were retired and 82% (226 respondents) had educational levels lower than Diploma. The mean and standard deviation of the participants’ spiritual health and loneliness respectively were 99.39±9.56 and 3.47±11.29. Furthermore, a significant, reverse relationship was detected between spiritual health and loneliness. That is, the elderly who enjoyed higher levels of spiritual health experienced lower degrees of loneliness (r=0.33, R2=10.89, p=0.001).Conclusion: The obtained results indicate that designing plans to promote spiritual health among the elderly can play a crucial role in reducing their loneliness. It is recommended that researchers conduct further studies on the elderly’s spiritual health.For downloading the full-text of this article please click here.Please cite this article as: KavoosianN, Hosseinzadeh  K, Kazemi JalisehH, KarboroA. The Relationship between Spiritual Health and Loneliness among the Elderly in Karaj- 2016. J Res Relig Health. 2018; 4(2): 7- 15

ارتباط بین سلامت معنوی و احساس تنهایی در سالمندان شهر کرج طی سال 1395

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22037/jrrh.v4i2.17536  Background and Objective: Loneliness, which is a common problem among the elderly, severely affects their health. Spiritual health plays an important role in the degree and quality of loneliness among the seniors. This study was conducted to explore the relationship between spiritual health and loneliness among the elderly people in Karaj in 2016. Method: This cross-sectional study adopted a descriptive-analytical design. Through simple sampling method, 275 people who attended seniors’ care center in Karaj took part in the study. Standard questionnaires were used to assess the participants’ spiritual health and loneliness. All the collected data were codified. Measures of central tendency and dispersion and Pearson correlation were used for data analysis. All ethical issues were observed and the researchers declared no conflict of interests. Results: In total, 71% (n=196) of respondents were male, most of them (93%=256 participants) were married, 56% (n=154) were retired and 82% (226 respondents) had educational levels lower than Diploma. The mean and standard deviation of the participants’ spiritual health and loneliness respectively were 99.39±9.56 and 3.47±11.29. Furthermore, a significant, reverse relationship was detected between spiritual health and loneliness. That is, the elderly who enjoyed higher levels of spiritual health experienced lower degrees of loneliness (r=0.33, R2=10.89, p=0.001). Conclusion: The obtained results indicate that designing plans to promote spiritual health among the elderly can play a crucial role in reducing their loneliness. It is recommended that researchers conduct further studies on the elderly’s spiritual health.   Please cite this article as: KavoosianN, Hosseinzadeh  K, Kazemi JalisehH, KarboroA. The Relationship between Spiritual Health and Loneliness among the Elderly in Karaj- 2016. J Res Relig Health. 2018; 4(2): 7- 15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22037/jrrh.v4i2.17536سابقه و هدف: احساس تنهایی از مشکلات شایع دوران سالمندی است که به‌شدت بر سلامت سالمندان تأثیر می‌گذارد. سلامت معنوی نقش مهمی در میزان و کیفیت احساس تنهایی در این افراد دارد. مطالعه‌ی حاضر با هدف تعیین ارتباط بین سلامت معنوی و احساس تنهایی در سالمندان مقیم شهر کرج طی سال ۱۳۹٥ صورت گرفته است. روش کار: این پژوهش مطالعه‌یی مقطعی ازنوع توصیفی - تحلیلی است. 275 نفر از سالمندان مقیم شهر کرج که به‌طور سرپایی به مؤسسه‌ی خدمات‌ درمانی البرز کرج مراجعه ‌کرده بودند، به‌روش نمونه‌گیری آسان وارد مطالعه شدند. برای بررسی سطح سلامت معنوی و نیز میزان احساس تنهایی افراد نمونه از پرسش‌نامه‌ی استاندارد استفاده شد. همه‌ی داده­ها پس از جمع‌آوری، کدبندی و برای تحلیل آنها از مقایسه‌ی میانگین‌ها، تعیین شاخص‌های مرکزی و پراکندگی و همچنین ضریب همبستگی پیرسون استفاده شد. در این پژوهش همه‌ی موارد اخلاقی رعایت شده است. علاوه‌براین، نویسندگان مقاله هیچ‌گونه تضاد منافعی گزارش نکرده‌اند. یافته‌ها: بیشتر واحدهای پژوهشی (71 درصد= 196 نفر) را مردان تشکیل ‌دادند. بیشتر آنان متأهل (93 درصد= 256 نفر)، بازنشسته (56 درصد= 154 نفر) و از نظر تحصیلات زیردیپلم (82 درصد= 226 نفر) بودند. میانگین و انحراف‌معیار سلامت معنوی و سطح احساس واحدهای پژوهشی به‌ترتیب 65/9±39/99 و 29/11±47/35 بود. علاوه‌براین، بین احساس تنهایی و سلامت معنوی واحدهای پژوهشی رابطه‌ی معکوس و معنی‌داری وجود داشت. بدین صورت که میزان احساس تنهایی در سالمندانی که سطح سلامت معنوی بالاتری داشتند، کمتر بود (33/.-=r، 89/10=R2 و 001/0=p). نتیجه‌گیری: نتایج به‌دست‌آمده نشان می‌دهد که برنامه‌ریزی برای ارتقای سلامت معنوی سالمندان می‌تواند نقش مهمی در کاهش احساس تنهایی آنان داشته باشد. پژوهشگران انجام مطالعات بیشتر در زمینه‌ی سلامت معنوی سالمندان را توصیه می‌کنند. استناد مقاله به این صورت است: KavoosianN, Hosseinzadeh  K, Kazemi JalisehH, KarboroA. The Relationship between Spiritual Health and Loneliness among the Elderly in Karaj- 2016. J Res Relig Health. 2018; 4(2): 7- 15.DOI: https://doi.org/10.22037/jrrh.v4i2.1753