Developing spiritual lifemaps as a culture-centered pictorial instrument for spiritual assessments with Native American clients

This study represents an initial step at giving social work practitioners an important assessment tool as they seek to provide culturally competent services to Native American clients. For the current study, a spiritual lifemap assessment tool was modified by the authors for a Native American cultural context. To determine the relevancy and consistency of utilizing the modified assessment tool with Native American clients, 50 Native American experts reviewed, rated, and gave feedback on its use. Results showed that spiritual lifemaps were generally consistent with Native American culture and, if used properly, could be very beneficial in working with Native Americans.