Religious and Spiritual Beliefs: An Avenue to Explore End-of-Life Issues

✍ Scribed by Summer M. Reiner

• Publisher: American Counseling Association
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 127 KB
• Volume: 6
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1524-6817
• DOI: 10.1002/j.2161-0029.2007.tb00036.x

✦ Synopsis

This literature review highlights the relationship between spirituality and/or religion and how people respond in the face of impending death. Attitudes toward physician-assisted suicide and hospice are explored. The author also offers recommendations to counselors for addressing religious and spiritual concerns.

Finally, we may all achieve peace-our own inner peace as well as peace between nations-by facing and accepting the reality of our own death.

• Kubler-Ross, 1969, p. 31 The human condition is bound by the laws of nature: life and death. Each person born into the world will eventually die, and even though each person is aware of this fate, it is still difficult to comprehend. To deal with this inevitability, many turn to religion and spirituality. In fact, according to a CBS news poll in 2006 (PollingReport.com, 2007), 82% of Americans believe in God, 9% believe in a universal spirit, 8% believe in neither, and 1% is undecided. Religion and spirituality are believed to increase with age (Emery & Pargament, 2004;Krause, 2001;Lewis, 2001;Moreman, 2005) and are seen as developmental across the life span (Hill et al., 2000). In the 2000 and 2001 Gallup Polls (The Gallup Poll, 2007), religion was "very important" to 60% of 50- to 64-year-olds, 67% of 65- to 74-year-olds, and 75% of 75-year-olds and greater. Church attendance also increased across the adult life span, with 44% of 50- to 64-year-olds attending church regularly, 50% of 65- to 74-year-olds, and 60% of 75-year-olds and greater attending church at least one time per week (Koenig, George, & Titus, 2004). Increased religiosity in older age may be attributed to the recognition that death is approaching (