Perception of spiritual health: A qualitative content analysis in Iranian older adults

ABSTRACTThe present study was performed with the aim to explain older people’s perceptions of spiritual health. It was conducted using the conventional content analysis method. Twelve individuals aged 60 years or older with normal cognition participated in the study using purposive sampling. Data were collected by in-depth interviews. Data analysis performed using standard method of thematic analysis.The average age of the study participants was 71.25 ± 9.48. The data analysis resulted in three main categories of spiritual insight, spiritual function, and spiritual affection. The spiritual insight included cognition of God and belief in Him, understanding of the divine religions and belief in them, self-cognition, cognition of the creation, and belief in the hereafter. This category included the two subcategories of spiritual cognition and spiritual belief. Spiritual function represented the interactions that the older people experienced in relations with God, themselves, and others. This category consist...