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A Holistic Approach to the Elderly and Dying in the Contemporary Society – the Complementarity of Scientific Knowledge and Teachings of the Catholic Church

Presentation by Prof. Ana Štambuk, PhD

            Man is a very complex, but exalted being among all visible creatures. According to Thomas Aquinas, the term ‘man’ denotes that which is the most exalted in the entire universe, and exaltedness comes to man from the metaphysical foundation bestowed upon him by his spiritual and immortal soul. Since man is a holistic spiritual and physical being, with the complete recognition of the psychological and social dimension of the human existence, the holistic approach is characterised by the inclusion of the spiritual dimension, which the Catholic Church has been teaching in its mission for centuries, into care.

            The experience of aging, sickness, even imminence of death, or awareness of the limited reality, open up a new space for the possibility of transcending one’s life circumstances. It is only in contemporary theories of aging that spirituality is revealed as an important dimension of man. Through the gerotranscendence as the final stage in the life cycle, we have the task to “release” the material and personal in order to examine one’s life through the meta-perspective of the spiritual and universal.

            Throughout the past several decades, the interest for the topic of spirituality and aging has been on the rise, mostly due to the established positive effects of spirituality on the health of the elderly as well as due to successful aging. With the increase of longevity in the modern society, the spiritual needs of the elderly are placed on the very top of social priorities, while understanding individual spiritual perspective is gaining importance, particularly in the areas of loss, physical disease and death, which the elderly face.

            Since there are numerous barriers for the realisation of spirituality assessment in research, such as, for example, the lack of professional training for professional staff and lack of time that needs to be devoted to every person, the elderly are frequently left without proper spiritual care. With that perspective, we will present an overview of the results of scientific studies conducted in Croatia, in which religiousness was an important resource in facing loss at an old age, along with the connection between religiousness and attitudes toward death and dying.

            Even though in palliative care there is the term ‘total pain’, it most often – albeit not always – includes only physical pain, while other aspects are neglected. Regardless of the spiritual history of individuals, many pose questions about the meaning and value of life, about the meaning of suffering and death. The answers to those questions as well as all the needs of the elderly and dying depend on the holistic education of professionals based on scientific knowledge, acquired competences and the personal search/yearning for meaning and truth.

Key words: the elderly, holistic approach, gerotranscendence, spirituality/religiousness, palliative care.