The papers published in this special edition of the JRSA are based on oral papers presented at the eighth International Conference on Ageing and Spirituality, October 2019, Canberra, Australia. The theme for this conference was: ‘Changing Cultures of Ageing and Spirituality’. The conference was held back in Canberra, almost 20 years from the date of the first conference in this series. It was a time of excitement, of delegates some who had attended most of this conference in various parts of the world, reminiscing on that first conference in January 2000. There was a new band of practitioners and scholars, learning and growing in their respective disciplines. All were united in their quest for knowledge and sharing, researching and providing care for older people.
At the time of writing, we reflect that this conference was held just prior to the beginning of the worst bushfire season experienced in living memory, dubbed ‘Black Summer’ in Eastern Australia, followed rapidly by the pandemic of Covid19. In this context, the authors of papers have worked to bring their particular knowledge and experiences of ageing and spirituality from practice, academic and research backgrounds. This collection of papers was dreamed up before the fires and pandemic, so the manuscripts contain little on these topics that have invaded most of our waking moments for most of this year. Perhaps the writing of these papers may have been a welcome distraction for some, a looking back to how things were.
The papers present a great variety of perspectives on the conference theme. We could ask, what is there in the papers that we have learned in those 20 years since 2000? In the final years of the twentieth century, we wondered if there was sufficient knowledge and scholarship existing in the field of ageing and spirituality, to invite people to that first conference. Those were early days, and at that time, few ventured to define the parameters of spirituality. There were many who were even hesitant to speak of spirituality, rather preferring to use the term religion, or religiosity. Much of the practice of pastoral care and chaplaincy had been set in the decades prior to the year 2000, and practice often focused on the work of respected pastoral thinkers and writers. There was little that brought both ageing and the spiritual together; the special issue of the JRSA that was published from that very first conference was titled, very broadly: Aging, Spirituality and Pastoral Care: A Multinational Perspective. So, we might ask, what has changed? Change has been seen in the increased body of research that has focused on the nature of spirituality, and differentiation between spirituality and religion, and it seems now that most people speak of spirituality. Although often the term spirituality is viewed from a very secular perspective.
The 2019 conference theme: We wanted to explore what was changing about ageing and spirituality, we wanted to open the conversation to all who were part of this journey of ageing, older people, as well as practitioners in ageing and aged care, and researchers, and those who reflect on the process of growing older. All are needed. We wanted to insert the word ‘culture’ into the mix, as the development of cultures is influenced by the societies around them, and also by minority groups within the larger society. We see the emergence of subcultures of ageing and aged care, and the characteristics of these cultures have been accentuated during the Covid19 pandemic as older people have succumbed in larger proportions than the rest of the population. In some cases, the advent of COVID-19 has been to highlight shortcomings of the systems of care and the cultures in which aged care takes place, on local and national levels of numbers of countries. Frail elderly people in need of care often live with multiple morbidities, experience lower immune responses and are more vulnerable to infections. These factors raise many questions about care practices that may influence the sector for decades to come. In this special edition of the JRSA, we can really only comment on the context of this year, as the papers themselves were set in a time before; however, that does not mean that these papers are no longer relevant, in fact, the content of these papers can show ways of reaching out to vulnerable older people, in a number of important ways.
Pickard’s paper, for example, takes up the great challenge of what life and ageing are all about. He writes of the Great Transition that has meant that a greater proportion of human beings now live longer lives, and he links this with our distancing from and fear of death. This paper sets a context for thinking about how we grow older and what our lives are really for. Egan & Blank present a framework for understanding spirituality and healthy ageing in the context of New Zealand. Their context includes their pluralistic population and influences of Maori culture, traditionally influenced by deep understandings of the spiritual. Their whole paper is steeped in health, well-being and spirituality. Contrasting with their perspective is the paper written by Mehta, which explores a Hindu view of spirituality within the varied cultures of Singapore, Mehta calls for greater integration of the spiritual into psychosocial and into all of health care, including medical care. Another paper, written by Trey, considers the benefits for older people of engaging in the process of Falun Gong. This paper takes a Chinese developed way of mindfulness and explores its application to older people in western societies. Wardle & Bennett take up yet another perspective of culture, spiritual and religious need by presenting a study of Punjabi Indians, living as a minority cultural group in rural communities of New South Wales, and their end-of-life religious needs. These articles address different and important aspects of culture, spirituality and religion in the context of growing older.
The next set of four articles all address matters of dementia and ageing. If anything, dementia has grown more important as a topic in the years since that first conference twenty years ago. As Western countries have continued to age, and not only Western countries, but Asian countries as well, then the numbers of older people living with dementia has increased with challenges for effective care, attitudes towards people with dementia and their families and matters of well-being and costs of resources have continued to grow in importance. An important issue in these papers addresses the person in community and citizenship and what this might look like, is written by Swinton. Swinton critique concepts of person-centred care, of citizenship, considering understandings of political and social citizenship. He then introduces theological perspectives as well as implications of policy and attitudes to people living with dementia. Bews has written a moving paper on a project she has completed: Breaking bread: A dementia awareness café, based on Swinton’s work on dementia. Daphne Johnston had shared her work in a very practice-based respite ministry project she has been involved with in Alabama that is making a difference for community-based people with dementia. And the final paper from this group, written by Wrigley-Carr, addresses care through corporate worship for people with dementia in residential care, with a focus on rituals and sensory stimulation. She bases her work on Von Hugel’s three elements of religion and how these might be of value for these people in care.
Niven’s paper also takes up the context of ritual, but in more general terms of ageing. The importance of narrative, ownership of story and engagement in meaningful ritual is amply illustrated in this paper. There is much of value to guide practitioners at any level. Finally, MacKinlay’s paper addresses the spiritual perspective of frailty, through the lived experience of frailty. The paper explores the vulnerabilities that come with frailty and outlines hopes, fears and the finding of inner strength that provides for peace, joy and love in the final journey towards the end of life.