Religious Practices; Holistic Health Care; Tongprateep, Tassanee
摘要
The purpose of this research was to understand and describe the essential elements of spirituality among rural Thai elders. The research question that guided the study was, “How do rural Thai elders experience and describe spirituality in their daily lives?” This question was explored by using the hermeneutic phenomenological approach.
Twelve rural Thai elders were interviewed after a pilot study with two Thai elders. The two in-depth interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed according to the process described by Allen and Jensen (1990), Diekelmann (1992), and Leonard (1994). To achieve trustworthiness, the evaluation criteria of Guba and Lincoln (1981), Sandelowski (1986), and Leonard (1994) were applied throughout the research process.
Through the process of data analysis, three categories and nine themes emerged. The categories are spiritual beliefs, religious practices, and the consequences of spirituality. The spiritual belief category consists of two themes: the law of karma and life after death. The religious practice category consists of four themes: merit making, observance of moral precepts, gratitude and caring in the family, and meditation. The consequences of spirituality category includes three themes: coping with the vicissitudes of life, being hopeful, and having a peaceful mind. These themes represented the main focus and meaning of the essential elements of spirituality among the participants. Spiritual beliefs and religious practices were interwoven throughout the descriptions of the participants in each theme. Buddhism was central to the thoughts and practices of the participants, especially the law of karma and life after death. Religious practices refer to merit making, observance of the moral precepts, gratitude and caring in the family, and meditation. Religious practices served as a means for self-responsibility to achieve the purpose of life. Religious practices were not only for the benefit of oneself but were also for unity in the community. In particular, merit making helped the elders to be able to adjust their roles in the family and community. Pride and sense of self-worth were the essential components that provided them with hope. The ability to cope with the vicissitudes of life, being hopeful, and having a peaceful mind were reflections of the inner perceptions and feelings of the participants. The nine themes as the essential elements of spirituality among rural Thai elders must be viewed and understood within the context that they really are whole and inseparable.
Interviewing techniques and therapeutic communication techniques were a means to help the participants to gain insight, to understand, and to describe their lived experiences related to spirituality. The findings of the study provide a knowledge base for Thai nurses to explore and expand the spiritual concept to enhance nursing science and provide holistic nursing care.
