Addressing Older Adult's Spiritual Needs in Health Care Settings: An Analysis of National Inpatient Satisfaction Data

Addressing Older Adult's Spiritual Needs in Health Care Settings: An Analysis of National Inpatient Satisfaction Data Addressing Older Adult's Spiritual Needs in Health Care Settings: An Analysis of National Inpatient Satisfaction Data Spiritual assessments are now required in most hospitals. In theory, this assessment enhances service provision by addressing clients spiritual needs. These new requirements may disproportionately benefit older adultsparticularly older women and people of colorsince spirituality tends to be more salient among these populations. Conversely, the assessment requirements also raise the possibility of potential harm. Gerontological social workers and other practitioners report receiving little training on spirituality. As a result, interventions may be implemented that violate clients cultural norms, spiritual strengths may be overlooked, client autonomy may be violated, and ethical and professional standards may be violated. Despite the importance of the issue, no research has examined older adults perceptions of service provision in this area. This cross-sectional study fills this gap in the literature by examining the relationship between older clients rating of how hospital staff met their spiritual needs and: 1) overall care provided by hospital staff and 2) overall care given at the hospital. It is tentatively hypothesized that higher levels of self-reported satisfaction with the degree to which clients spiritual needs are addressed will predict higher levels of self-reported satisfaction with both measures of global care. The counter-hypotheses are that clients rating of how hospital staff addressed their spiritual needs are largely unrelated to both global measures of care, which suggests that clients do not want their spiritual needs addressed as part of their care. To test these hypotheses, a secondary data analysis will be conducted using Press Ganeys inpatient satisfaction data. In addition, the study will determine the relationship between age and satisfaction with the degree to which spiritual needs are addressed. Further, predictors of high satisfaction will be identified so that elderly at-risk clients can be recognized. Finally, potential models of service delivery will be tested and cross-validated (e.g., are the relationships between clients rating of how hospital staff addressed their spiritual needs and global measures of care mediated by self-rated health?). As the first study to systematically explore older adults perceptions about addressing spiritual needs in hospital settings, this project represents a first step down the path toward more ethical, client-centered services.