Exploring Spirituality With Older People: (2) A rigorous process

ABSTRACT

Exploring Spirituality With Older People is a research project which has aimed to develop a valid assessment tool for understanding more of the spirituality of older people living in an aged care facility. A qualitative methodology using semi-structured interviews was chosen as the most appropriate way to explore spirituality which led to addressing the question of what constitutes validity and reliability in such a study. An approach involving reflection on the process at four phases of the project by three different groups of people – consultants, participants and participant interviewers, was seen to be suitable and would best serve the process of achieving a rigorous approach in the move towards validity.

KEYWORDS:

• Aging
• spirituality
• qualitative
• validity
• nurses
• nursing
• midwifery
• research
• assessment
• rigor

Acknowledgments

The research team appreciate the assistance of the following distinguished consultants at various stages of the project, but realize that they may not endorse all matters discussed in this paper:

Professor Richard Fleming, University of Wollongong

Associate Professor Ann Harrington, Flinders University

Associate Professor Rosalie Hudson, Charles Sturt University

Dr Bruce Rumbold, La Trobe University

Professor Bruce Stevens, Charles Sturt University

Professor John Swinton, University of Aberdeen

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethics

Approval for this research (HREC/18/QTDD/37) was granted by Queensland Health Human Ethics Research Committee on 31 May, 2018. Subsequent Governance approval SSA/18/QTTD/40,548, was granted on 5 November, 2018.

Ethics approval was also granted by the University of Southern Queensland Human Ethics Committee (H18REA283P1) on 22 January, 2019.