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Spirituality, religion, social support and health among older Australian adults
Author(s) -
Moxey Annette,
McEvoy Mark,
Bowe Steven,
Attia John
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
australasian journal on ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-6612
pISSN - 1440-6381
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-6612.2010.00453.x
Subject(s) - spirituality , attendance , social support , confidence interval , gerontology , mental health , medicine , demography , psychology , incidence (geometry) , psychiatry , social psychology , alternative medicine , sociology , pathology , economics , economic growth , physics , optics
Aim: To examine the impact of perceived importance of spirituality or religion (ISR) and religious service attendance (RSA) on health and well‐being in older Australians. Methods: A cross‐sectional survey of 752 community‐dwelling men and women aged 55–85 years from the Hunter Region, New South Wales. Results: Overall, 51% of participants felt spirituality or religion was important in their lives and 24% attended religious services at least 2–3 times a month. In univariate regression analyses, ISR and RSA were associated with increased levels of social support (P < 0.001). However, ISR was also associated with more comorbidities (incidence–rate ratio = 1.2, 95% confidence interval 1.08–1.33). There were no statistically significant associations between ISR or RSA and other measures such as mental and physical health. Conclusion: Spirituality and religious involvement have a beneficial impact on older Australians' perceptions of social support, and may enable individuals to better cope with the presence of multiple comorbidities later in life.