The assessment and incorporation of a client’s spirituality has become increasingly common in the field of social work. While historically social workers were trained to avoid discussions centered on religion, we now know that spirituality encompasses many ways of believing. “The Society for Spirituality and Social Work is a network of social workers and other helping professionals dedicated to spiritually sensitive practice and education” (Society for Spirituality and Social Work, n.d.). Addressing a client’s spirituality allows for a biopsychosocial holistic approach that can aid in the process of understanding illness, disability, and end-of-life issues.

For this Discussion, review the Monod et al. (2010) article and locate one scholarly article addressing spirituality with the elderly.

· Post your explanation of the significance of addressing spirituality with the elderly. 

· Identify a spiritually based intervention for this population. 

· Describe the effectiveness of the use of spirituality with the elderly as found in the literature. 

· Then, describe your own thoughts on the use of spirituality in an intervention.

Support your posts with specific references to the Learning Resources. Be sure to provide full APA citations for your references.

References (use 3 or more)

Browne, C. V. (1995). Empowerment in social work practice with older women. Social Work, 40(3), 358–364. 

Holosko, M. J., Skinner, J. F., Patterson, C. A., & Brisebois, K. (2013). Intervention with the elderly. In M. J. Holosko, C. N. Dulmus, & K. M. Sowers (Eds.), Social work practice with individuals and families: Evidence-informed assessments and interventions (pp. 197–235). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Laidlaw, K. (2001). An empirical review of cognitive therapy for late life depression: Does research evidence suggest adaptations are necessary for cognitive therapy with older adults? Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 8(1), 1–14. 

Monod, S. M., Rochat, E., Büla, C. J., Jobin, G., Martin, E., & Spencer, B. (2010). The spiritual distress assessment tool: An instrument to assess spiritual distress in hospitalised elderly persons. BMC Geriatrics, 10, 88.

Discussion 2: Life Review

While the use of reminiscing about one’s life may not seem a particularly therapeutic approach, the use of life reviews has been found to be correlated with life satisfaction (Haight, 1992) and positive mental health outcomes (Westerhof, Bohlmeijer, van Beljouw, & Pot, 2010). The spontaneous and informal sharing of one’s life story to provide younger generations insight into history is an age-old tradition that, according to Haber (2006), has diminished recently under the shadow of the technical age. In response, practitioners have “found” this tool in the therapeutic process. There have been several theories used to support the integration of this intervention. You will be asked to identify and assess a theory you believe best fits this approach to working with the elderly.

For this Discussion, review the Haber article.

· Post your choice of a theory that best aligns with the use of a life review and why. 

· Explain how you believe life review can be a useful intervention when working with elderly clients.

References (use 3 or more)

Browne, C. V. (1995). Empowerment in social work practice with older women. Social Work, 40(3), 358–364. 

Holosko, M. J., Skinner, J. F., Patterson, C. A., & Brisebois, K. (2013). Intervention with the elderly. In M. J. Holosko, C. N. Dulmus, & K. M. Sowers (Eds.), Social work practice with individuals and families: Evidence-informed assessments and interventions (pp. 197–235). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Laidlaw, K. (2001). An empirical review of cognitive therapy for late life depression: Does research evidence suggest adaptations are necessary for cognitive therapy with older adults? Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 8(1), 1–14. 

Haber, D. (2006). Life review: Implementation, theory, research, and therapy. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 63(2), 153–171. 

Monod, S. M., Rochat, E., Büla, C. J., Jobin, G., Martin, E., & Spencer, B. (2010). The spiritual distress assessment tool: An instrument to assess spiritual distress in hospitalised elderly persons. BMC Geriatrics, 10, 88.