The Relationship between Daily Spiritual Experiences and General Health of the Elderly Registered in the Retirement Center of Isfahan

Abstract Background and Purpose: A significant proportion of retired people who are close to the elderly age, experience the loss of physical and mental symptoms of general health, while on the other hand, the spiritual needs of the elderly is greater than other age groups due to their problems. Therefore, this study focused on one of the most important recent innovations in the concept and measurement of spirituality which meant the scale of daily spiritual experience and its relationship with general health of retired people. Methods: This descriptive-analytic study was done among 190 retired elderly who were referred to Isfahan retirement center and were selected through simple sampling. The information was collected via demographic variables, general health questioner, and daily spiritual experiences scale. Data analysis was also done by SPSS Software 21 through descriptive statistical tests, Pearson correlation coefficient, t-test, and ANOVA. Results: In this study, the mean score of general health was 29.67±10.60, and the mean score of their daily spiritual experiences was 73.11±16.9. In addition, the results showed significant and positive correlation between daily spiritual experiences and general health of the elderly (p Conclusion: According to the results, when retired elderly had more daily spiritual experiences, they experienced more general health. So, having a comprehensive view to the elderly spiritual needs in health educating programs, so as to induce more appropriate care, seems necessary.