Family Spirituality and Family Health Among Korean-American Elderly Couples.
Spirituality has been regarded as an individual and private matter; consequently, research on spirituality as a family phenomenon has been largely neglected. In addition, most published research has been focused on Western cultures. The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of family spirituality and how it influences health among Korean-American elderly couples who are the first generation to reside in the Southeastern USA. A thematic and interpretive data analysis method was used. Thirteen elderly couples (N = 26) participated in in-depth individual interviews in Korean with the primary author. Interviews were audio-taped, transcribed, and then translated by two bilingual researchers with a background in Korean and American culture. Three main themes of family spirituality were identified: (1) family togetherness, (2) family interdependence, and (3) family coping. Also, participants reported that family spirituality strengthened family health by fostering family commitment, improving emotional well-being, developing new healthy behaviors, and providing healing experiences. This finding implies that healthcare providers need to assess family spiritual issues of elderly couples to maximize their strengths for coping with health problems. As our society becomes more culturally diverse, healthcare providers should seek to understand family spirituality from different cultural perspectives to develop a more holistic approach to care.
Division of Nursing Science, College of Health Sciences, Ewha Womans University, 52, Ewhayeodae-gil, Seodaemoon-Ku, Seoul, 120-750, Korea. suksunkim@ewha.ac.kr.
Suk-Sun
SS
Kim
School of Nursing, College of Health and Human Services, University of North Carolina Wilmington, 601 S. College Road, Wilmington, NC, 28403, USA.
Yeoun Soo
YS
Kim-Godwin
Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.|Department of Medicine, King Abudlaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Harold G
HG
Koenig
D000368:Aged; D001213:Asian; D005190:Family; D005192:Family Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D029181:Spirituality; D018454:Spouses
Elderly couples; Family health; Family spirituality; Korean-Americans