Spirituality, Cancer, and Aging

Spirituality has often been associated positively in healthcare by most patients. Healthcare providers should be sensitive to this when they make healthcare decisions impacting patients and their families. They should provide opportunities for them to share their religious and spiritual beliefs and offer support when possible.

By understanding the importance of spirituality in many people’s lives, healthcare workers and other caregivers can create better plans of encouragement for patients. These plans could include support groups for them that involve yoga, meditation, nature, music, prayer, or referral to spiritual or religious counselors.

For older adults, cancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. This palliative care cancer review examines the influence of spirituality on aging in general and on the management of older cancer patients.

These are the conclusions:

1) A spiritual perspective has been associated with successful aging, better tolerance of physical and emotional stress, and the ability to cope with serious diseases and isolation.

2) Spirituality has been associated with decreased risk of suicide and depression and is especially important in older adults.

3) Spirituality has also improved the quality of life and reduced the risk of disease and death for the patient's caregiver. It may render the palliative care of cancer more effective and may also aid in detection and management of spiritual pain, which may prevent healing at the end of life.

Frances Shani Parker, Author

Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback and e-book editions in America and other countries at online and offline booksellers. Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog, Frances Shani Parker's Website

Older Adult Sleep Problems: Drug-Free Solutions (Research, Video .25)

Older adults have sleep problems just like millions of others do. Unfortunately, they often find inappropriate treatments that they may think are effective. This sleep research, conducted by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, focused on the perceived effectiveness of older adults’ various sleep treatments. Information was gathered through a mailed questionnaire to a community-based sample of older adults with 242 responding. These are examples of the sleep interventions older adults used:

1)    Watching television, listening to the radio, and reading were the most popular interventions.

2)    Taking medications such as pain medication and prescription sleeping pills were also common. Older adults perceived sleeping pills as being most effective.

3)    Drinking alcohol was another form of self-treatment.

About half of those using alcohol and prescribed over the-counter sleep aids had not discussed their sleep problems with their doctor. Not discussing sleep problems and treatments they are using with their doctors can worsen their problems and possibly put them in serious danger healthwise. Healthcare providers and caregivers should make it a point to initiate conversations with older adults about sleeping patterns.

In this video, Dr. David Schulman, Sleep Specialist at Emory University, recommends the following seven drug-free sleep tips. Older adults, in addition to keeping their healthcare providers informed, can use them:

Frances Shani Parker, Author

Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing Homes is available in paperback at many booksellers and in e-book form at Amazon and Barnes and Noble booksellers.

Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog