Addressing the Spiritual Needs of American Indians: Predictors of Satisfaction

Abstract

Spirituality is instrumental to health and wellness in many American Indian (AI) cultures. Although the Joint Commission requires spiritual assessments to identify and address clients’ spiritual needs during hospitalization, little is known about the operationalization of this process for American Indians (AIs). To address this gap in the literature, the present study employed a national sample of AIs (N = 1,281) to identify predictors of satisfaction with the manner in which their spiritual needs were addressed. The results suggest the discharge process, physicians, room quality, and nurses play important roles in satisfactorily addressing AIs’ spiritual needs. Of these, the discharge process had the largest effect on satisfaction, underscoring the salience of social workers in addressing the spiritual needs of hospitalized AIs.

KEYWORDS:

• spirituality
• American Indians
• spiritual needs
• hospitals
• Native Americans