Do you believe the views on the religion and spirituality changes as one gets older?

Religious and Spiritual Involvement with Older Adults
This semester you will analyze the impact of religious and spiritual involvement to productive aging in older adults. The objective is to evaluate the role of nonpaid activities in the lives of older adults. Use in-text citations from research, scholarly sources, websites, and the textbook to support your examination. Include a Reference Page. Paper to be written in APA format. No abstract is needed. Submit the paper in the Dropbox on BeachBoard.
Introduction (2-3 pages):
In the last few decades gerontologists have become increasingly aware of the importance of spirituality to the well-being of seniors. Define spirituality from the gerontological view. Why do many believe that spirituality is key to productive aging? How popular is religion to older adults?
How do you believe older adults view religious beliefs versus spirituality?

Individual Interview (3-5 pages):
Interview an older adult and provide a summary. Provide background information, life course events, and current living situation. Develop and ask questions regarding their own religious and spiritual involvement.

Example Questions:
Has spirituality become more important as you age? Why or why not?
What are the best spiritual activities for you?
How does faith provide you comfort?

Group Share (2-4 pages):
Groups will be pre-assigned and will share interviews with each other. Briefly summarize your classmate’s interviews and the overall themes that developed from your groups’ interviews. Highlight concepts covered in class. “Because religion provides a world view that infuses the present with meaning and the future with hope, it may help people cope with health problems and stressful life situations.” Does this statement apply to the older adults that were interviewed? Can you provide anecdotal evidence that religion and religiosity offer health benefits to older adults? Present evidence for and/or against the proposition that religion, spirituality, or belief in a higher power benefits older adult in life.

Conclusion (2-4pages):
Analyze the following questions:
Do you believe the views on the religion and spirituality changes as one gets older? Why or why not? Define and discuss the theory of gerotranscendence and how it applies to the interviews. What happens that may lead to a reevaluation of one’s life as one ages and what has guided them to religiously or spirituality? What do you believe are the benefits and the value of religious participation for older adults? Can there be challenges as well? Explain.

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