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SPIRITUAL WELLNESS

SPIRITUAL WELLNESS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY SOLDIER DEFINITIONS AND OPERATIONALIZATION CHAPLAIN (LTC) THOMAS C. VAIL, PH.D. AMEDD CENTER & SCHOOL GOALS Discuss current definitions of spiritual wellness Describe the implications of the definitions for daily life

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SPIRITUAL WELLNESS

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  1. SPIRITUAL WELLNESS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY SOLDIER DEFINITIONS AND OPERATIONALIZATION CHAPLAIN (LTC) THOMAS C. VAIL, PH.D. AMEDD CENTER & SCHOOL

  2. GOALS • Discuss current definitions of spiritual wellness • Describe the implications of the definitions for daily life • Explain the vitas of “knowing” that can illumine a person’s life path • Present a Research Example with implications for Spiritual Care

  3. Spiritual or Religious • Religion: Institutionalized body of believers accepting common set of beliefs, practices, and rituals. • Spiritual: People who have “internalized” beliefs and practices into their lives. Krippner, S. & Welch, P. (1992). Spiritual Dimensions of Healing, Irvington Publishers: NY, p. 6.

  4. Definitions of Wellness/Readiness • Spiritual Wellness/Health • The maturation of our higher consciousness developed through the integration of three facets: 1. Relationship with oneself and others 2. Strong personal value system 3. Meaningful purpose in one's life.1 1Seaward, B.L., (1991a). The inner kingdom: A creative journal workbook for stress management. Burlington, VT, White. Pines Publications. Seaward, B. L. (1991b). Spiritual well-being a health education Model, Journal of Health Education, 22 (3), 166-169. Seaward, B. M. & Seaward B. (1992b), A spiritual well-being program at the United States Postal Service headquarters. Wellness Perspectives, 8, 1-16.

  5. Definitions of Wellness/Readiness • Core Spiritual Experiences --God exists (as he/she defines God) --Feelings of intimate connection to God --Perception of God as the foundational element of a person's core self.2 2Dr. Jared Kass, Personal Conversation. 1999.

  6. Definitions of Wellness/Readiness • Physical Wellness • A level of physical health in which an individual is operating at an optimum level of health which supports normal activities of daily living and long term physical health. • Readiness • The state of being mentally and physically prepared in all the military skills required to successfully complete a mission.

  7. Nature of the Soul • Creative & Destructive • Comical • Passionate • Multi-dimensional • Narrative • Fluid • Projective

  8. OPERATIONALIZING SPIRITUALITY • QUALITATIVE • Hermeneutics: Interpretative • Narrative Based • Meaning Patterns • QUANITATIVE • Probability • Literal • Concrete

  9. SPIRITUAL IDENTITY SURVEY

  10. TASK FORCE MED FALCON 1B • LOCATION: CAMP BONDSTEEL KOSOVO • TASK FORCE COMPRISED OF UNITS FROM EUROPEAN SOLDIERS FROM 30TH MEDICAL BRIGADE • DEPLOYED NOV 99-APR 00 • SURVEY COMPLETED MID JAN 00 • CO-RESEACHER: LTC JAMES GAMERL, MSC

  11. TASK FORCE MED FALCON 1B

  12. Home EVACs Trauma Team Work Experiences in Kosovo

  13. Potential Uses of Survey • Collective Unit evaluation • Individual Pastoral Counseling Personal Self-Development

  14. SURVEY Domain 1. My life has meaning and purpose. Meaning 2. I am a spiritually minded person. Identity 3. Participating in a faith community is important to me. Faith Community 4. Religion or spirituality is a factor in my life. Relative Importance 5. Prayer, or meditation, or reflection is important to me. Reflection 6. I am a spiritually fit person. Wellness 7. I have hope because of my faith. Hope 8. Spiritually speaking, I am never alone. Divine Connection 9. My spirituality helps me cope with stress. Stress 10. Feeling accepted by my (God) higher power is important for me. Forgiveness 11. I feel in touch with or connected to people and the world around me. Connectedness 12. My spiritual well being is up to me. Locus of Control

  15. Likert Type Scale Strongly Disagree Disagree Mildly Disagree Neutral Mildly Agree Agree Strongly Agree 1 2 3 0 4 5 6 1-6 Neutral is 0 Score total from 0 to 72

  16. Demographics • N=63 or 42% out of 150 TFMF soldiers • Religious Profile % Catholic=16 26 Jewish=1 2 Muslim=1 2 No Religious Preference=16 26 Buddhist=1 2 Protestant=21 33 Lutheran=1 2 Baptist=5 8

  17. Sample Population Descriptive Statistics Standard Deviation 17.88 Mean 51.43 Median 56.5 Mode 65

  18. 90 80 70 60 50 Results 40 30 20 10 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 N=63 Scatter Diagram of Sample Population Trend line

  19. Correlation coefficient of Questions 1 and 110.11 1 and 20.49 1 and 30.44 1 and 40.91 1 and 50.99 1 and 60.45 1 and 7 0.86 1 and 8 0.98 1 and 9 0.97 1 and 10 0.89 1 and 12 0.94

  20. Q1 My life has purpose and meaning 93% Bar graphs are in percentages

  21. Q19 Own Morale Command Climate Survey 19 Jan 00 N=107 Bar graphs are in percentages

  22. Q12 Level of Stress Command Climate Survey 19 Jan 00 74.5% N=111 Bar graphs are in percentages

  23. Q2 I am a spiritual minded person. 72.66% Bar graphs are in percentages

  24. 70 60.5 60 50 40 32.25 27.41 30 24.19 20.2 19.4 20 6 6 10 0 0 0 Agree Neutral Not at all Disagree Mildly Agree Am a member Strongly Agree Active Member Mildly Disagree Strongly Disagree Q3 Participating in a faith community is important to me. 65.66% To what extent do you participate in religious groups? National Geographic Survey 1999 N=32,327 Results in red Bar graphs are in percentages

  25. Q4 Religion or spirituality is a factor in my life. 83.85% Bar graphs are in percentages

  26. Q5 Prayer, or meditation, orreflection is important to me. 77.41% Bar graphs are in percentages

  27. Q6 I am a spiritually fit person. 75.79% Bar graphs are in percentages

  28. Q7 I have hope because of my faith. 80.63% Bar graphs are in percentages

  29. Q8 Spiritually speaking, I am never alone. 79.12% Bar graphs are in percentages

  30. Q9 My spirituality helps me cope with stress. 77.14% Bar graphs are in percentages

  31. Q10 Feeling accepted by my (God) higher power is important to me. 77.41% Bar graphs are in percentages

  32. Q11 I feel in touch with or connected to people and the world around me. 74.18% I feel close to other people in my community? National Geographic Survey 1999 N=32,327 Results in red Bar graphs are in percentages

  33. Q12 My spiritual well being is up to me. 90.31% Bar graphs are in percentages

  34. Implications for Spiritual Care • Need for team and relationship building • Connectivity (training as a unit) prior to arrival • Spiritual programming Include a Spiritual Wellness training course Multidimensional spiritual programming

  35. Future Developments • Relative Spiritual Wellness Scale based upon standard deviations • Need for testing with larger sample populations Internal Validity External Validity • Need for cross comparative studies (i.e. Command Climate Surveys)

  36. Relative Spiritual Wellness Scale • Based on Standard Deviation of 18 • Example: 54-72 Excellent 36-53 Superior 18-35 Good 0-17 Needs Development

  37. Needs Development Good Superior Excellent Mean=51.43 Median=56.5 0-17 18-35 36-53 54-72 Bell Curve of Relative Spiritual Wellness Scale Standard Deviation=18

  38. 90 Good Superior Excellent Needs Development 80 70 60 50 Mean=51.43 40 30 Median=56.5 20 0-17 18-35 36-53 54-72 10 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Bell Curve of Relative Spiritual Wellness Scale with Scatter Diagram of Sample Population Standard Deviation=18

  39. References Elkins, D. N., & Shafranske, E. P. (1987). Attitudes toward religion, spirituality, and psychotherapy: A comparison of California and Wyoming psychologists. Paper presented at the meeting of the California Psychological Association, Coronado, CA. Elkins, D. N., Hedstrom, L. J., Hughes, L. L., Leaf, J. A., & Saunders, C. (1988). Toward a humanistic-phenomenological spirituality: Definition, description, and measurement. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 28 (4), 5-18. Elkins, D. (1995). Psychotherapy and spirituality: Toward a theory of the soul. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 35, 78. Fox, M. (1991). Creation Spirituality. San Francisco: Harper Books. Frankl, V. E. (1955). The doctor and the soul. New York: Knopf. Frankl, V. E. (1963). Man's search for meaning. New York: Washington Square. Jung, C. G. (1933). Modern man in search of a soul. New York: Harvest Books. Jung, C. G. (1937). Psychology and religion: West and East. New York: Pantheon. Jung, C. G. (1958). The undiscovered self. New York: Mentor Books. Jung, C. G. (1961). Memories, dreams, and reflections. New York: Pantheon. Jung, C. G. (1964). Man and his symbols. New York: Anchor Press. Seaward, B. L. (1988). From corporate fitness to corporate wellness. Fitness in Business, 2, 182-186. Seaward, B. L. (1989). Giving wellness a spiritual workout. Health Progress, 50-52. Seaward, B.L., (1991a). The inner kingdom: A creative journal workbook for stress management. Burlington, VT, White. Pines Publications. Seaward, B. L. (1991b). Spiritual well-being a health education Model, Journal of Health Education, 22 (3), 166-169. Seaward, B.L. (1992a). Best friend: A personal guide to stress management. Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publishing. (in publication). Seaward, B. M. & Seaward B. (1992b), A spiritual well-being program at the United States Postal Service headquarters. Wellness Perspectives, 8, 1-16.

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