Nurturing Spiritual Wellbeing in Older Australians Drawing on Indigenous and non-indigenous Ways of Knowing

Transcription

1 Nurturing Spiritual Wellbeing in Older Australians Drawing on Indigenous and non-indigenous Ways of Knowing Prof. Jeni Warburton, Dr. Melissa Moore, and Dr. Pettina Love College of SHE / JRI / La Trobe University 48 th AAG Conference, Alice Springs, 4-6 November, 2015

2 Presentation Outline Introduction Method Contribution to knowledge Indigenous vs. Non-Indigenous perspectives Results Where to from here?

3 La Trobe University acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land upon which this presentation takes place and we pay our respects to elders past and present.

4 Introduction Ageing population Indigenous Australians (IA) aged 65+ projected to more than double from 22,700 in 2011 to 57,400-61,000 in Non-Indigenous Australians (NIA) aged 65+ project to increase from 3.2mill in 2012 to mill in Health inequalities IA have poorer health than NIA. Holistic approach needed to improve health and wellbeing of older IA and close the gap Spirituality : a key role in health and wellbeing of older adults.

5 Contribution to Knowledge This review provides a unique perspective by drawing on two different world views of IA and NIA older adults to explore the key research question: What does spiritual wellbeing mean to all older Australians? This knowledge is a crucial first step in developing effective policy and practice designed to nurture the health and wellbeing of older Australians.

6 Two Methodologies Indigenist Methodology Approach Personalised. Informal. Ensuring actual voice of Aboriginal people represented Question derived from Indigenous community need Western Methodology Approach Step removed. Non-biased. Classic search of academic literature Informal search Academic and nonacademic literature (e.g. journals, books, newspapers, reports Formal search Relevant databases, google scholar, targeted internet search Intuitive Analysis procedure to identify themes Inductive Content Analysis using Nvivo 10 to identify themes

7 Results: Indigenous perspective on Spirituality Spirituality Core of Aboriginal being and identity. Represents the interconnectedness and relationships between all things- people, plants, animals, landforms, and celestial bodies. o These relationships are held within sacred Stories ( Dreaming ). The spiritual life of an Aboriginal person means living in the eternal present o Spirituality is not fixed in past; it is now; it exists today, all around us. Maintaining a healthy spirit is an important part of maintaining physical health Physical body will heal only once spirit is healed. Nurturing spiritual wellbeing in Aboriginal older adults Common feature of all healing programs absent from many Western approaches: Recognition of the importance of healing the spirit and reconnecting to culture. If our spirit and physical body become one, we no longer feel half a person. For me, I had a sense that my spirit had come home our spirit can then connect and communicate with our spiritual ancestors (Wanganeen, 2010) Image: Mental and Spiritual Health belongs to all of us from Making Two Worlds Work Project developed by Mungabareena Aboriginal Corporation and Women s Health Goulburn North East, 2008

8 Results: Western perspective on Spirituality Spirituality is a multifaceted and complex concept with no universal meaning Spirituality vs Religion Spirituality has increasing importance to older adults Nurturing spiritual wellbeing in non-indigenous older adults No single technique can cater for all individual s spiritual needs.

9 Where to from here? Existing knowledge of spiritual wellbeing and care approaches appear to be siloed Aboriginal spirituality typically researched much like an archeological dig. Western spirituality likened to a religious journey. The way forward for nurturing spiritual wellbeing in all older Australians is to work together to merge these two streams of knowledge into a single reservoir of knowledge, and learn from each other

10 Further Information Wanganeen, R. (2010). Dealing with loss, grief and trauma: Seven phases to healing. In N. Purdie, P. Dudgeon, & R. Walker (Eds.), Working together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Wellbeing Principles and Practice. Canberra: Australian Government Department of Health and Aging. Love, P., Moore, M., & Warburton, J. (in press). Nurturing spiritual wellbeing among older people in Australia: drawing on indigenous and non-indigenous way of knowing. Australasian Journal on Ageing, xx(xx), xx.

11 Thank you