Explore the spiritual dimensions of aging through science, theory, and practice! During the later years of life, many people devote energy to a process of spiritual awakening and self-discovery. Yet their family, friends, clergy, and the helping professionals who work with them are not always prepared to understand or deal with the spiritual concerns of their clients. Aging and Spirituality provides a unique, far-reaching overview of this long-neglected field. Divided into four independent but interwoven sections, this landmark book covers the spiritual realm with scientific rigor and deep human understanding. Aging and Spirituality comprehensively surveys the issues of spirituality, from the groundwork of basic definitions to detailed assessments of the role spirituality plays in the lives of the elderly and suggested directions for further research. This book's unique approach combines scholarly research and practical nuts-and-bolts suggestions for service delivery. By drawing from many disciplines and professions, it offers fresh perspectives to even those practitioners already familiar with the most effective spiritual techniques their own field can offer. Aging and Spirituality answers such common questions as: What are the spiritual needs of people later in life? Is there any solid evidence that prayer changes things? How is spirituality related to physical and mental health? Does spirituality matter when people know they are dying? How can we measure spiritual wellness and assess the outcomes of activities intended to enhance it? Will attention to spirituality aggravate or alleviate the losses--of friends, family, health, youth--that so often occur during old age? Aging and Spirituality provides a much-needed resource for health care professionals, clergy, social workers, and counselors working with geriatric clients. By integrating spiritual issues into the theoretical framework of social gerontology, Aging and Spirituality will help you understand the scientific foundations, practical applications, and public policy implications of spirituality for older adults.

A compassionate guide for transforming aging into spiritual growth • Engage with 25 key questions guiding you to mine previously untapped veins of inspiration and courage • Find a constructive role for regret and fear and embrace the freedom to become more fully yourself • 2015 Nautilus Gold Award As we enter the years beyond midlife, our quest for an approach to aging takes on added urgency and becomes even more relevant in our daily lives. Empowering a new generation of seekers to view aging as a spiritual path, authors Robert Weber and Carol Orsborn reveal that it is by engaging with the difficult questions about loss, meaning, and mortality--questions we can no longer put off or ignore--that we continue to grow. In fact, the realization of our full spiritual potential comes about not by avoiding the challenges aging brings our way but by working through them. Addressing head-on how to make the transition from fears about aging into a fuller, richer appreciation of the next phase of our lives, the authors guide you through 25 key questions that can help you embrace the shadow side of aging as well as the spiritual opportunities inherent in growing older. Sharing their stories and wisdom to both teach and demonstrate what it means to feel energized about the possibilities of your later years, they explore how to find a constructive role for regret, shame, and guilt, realize your value to society, and embrace the freedom of your later years to become more fully yourself. Coming from Catholic Jesuit and Jewish backgrounds respectively, as well as drawing from the latest research in psychological and religious theory, Weber and Orsborn provide their own conversational and candid answers to the 25 key questions, supporting their insightful and compassionate guidance with anecdotes, inspirational readings, and spiritual exercises. By engaging deeply with both the shadow and light sides of aging, our spirits not only learn to cope--but also to soar.

Offers a Buddhist perspective on aging well, with anecdotes of the author's experiences with illness, aging, and transformation, and guided meditations.

Spirituality and Ageing presents the experience of ageing as an opportunity for spiritual reflection and affirmation of life. The contributors are religious and spiritual leaders and ethical thinkers from a range of different backgrounds. They define 'spirituality' not just as a religious concept but as the fulfilment of the universal human need for purpose, values and relationships - a sense of wholeness in life. This spiritual dimension helps people face the emotional and psychological challenges of growing older, such as memory loss, dementia, bereavement and fear of death. Existing systems of social care often focus on the material and physical needs of older people; this collection proposes that the spiritual needs of older people are as vital a consideration for their welfare. Through their spirituality, older people can attain a fuller appreciation and understanding of life, which can also inform and enrich the lives of others.Spirituality and Ageing will be an invaluable resource to carers looking for a holistic and more reflective approach to work with older people.

Separating spirituality from religion--something few books on this topic do--Spirituality and Aging offers a plan for incorporating spirituality into gerontological scholarship, research, education, and practice.

Using selected conference material, this text explores how well-being among the elderly does not depend solely on physical health but also on having purpose in life and ongoing spiritual growth, and offers guidance on meeting the spiritual needs of this age group and providing meaningful care and support.