As the editor of the Journal of Religion, Spirituality and Aging for the past 24 years I have recently reviewed the journal from its beginning in 1984. As I reflect on the various articles from the perspective of a practitioner, while the environment, in terms of social services and government response has changed, the basic aging needs have remained much the same in the past 40 years.
The field of aging separates basic issues of aging from social, emotional, and health-care concerns which are more prone to change than are the basic issues of aging. The practice of working with older adults from a religious/spiritual perspective as it meets older adult needs has not changed much. Programs are available, however, the service environment has changed.
The research on religious organizations today is largely repetitive of the findings of studies in this journal conducted in the 1980s and 1990s and continues to be valid in terms of religious congregations. The challenge in this world of library search engines is to set them to search back 40 years. The point of even practical research is learning new information, not just to repeat the information that is readily available from 40 years ago.
This said, the major transition for the world of practice is the shift from religions to spirituality. Traditionally, particularly public programs for older adults in the United States have attempted to keep Church and State separate, thus reducing the religious integration of religion into the public sector. Many agencies have found this impractical at best, but the line between church and state continues for many programs.
The incursion of spirituality as a part of the belief system for older adults is coming. The research suggests that while Baby Boomers continue to focus on religion, those born after 1964 are shifting toward spirituality. In the traditional Cheyenne Native American community suggests that there are four spirits that are critical, but in the new spirituality, at least in the United States, spirituality is much more diverse. Essentially, it is more personal in nature to the person who believes in it, thus there are about as many spiritualities as there are people. This makes spirituality more difficult to study as well as more of a challenge to develop programs for.
There is a very real need for more research into the practical needs of older adults that reflects both the literature accumulated over the past 40 years, and the movement to the importance of the diverse understandings of spirituality. This journal has always been devoted to bridging practice with research and theology. Being informed by the past as well as looking to the future is the newest cutting edge in the field of Religion, Spirituality, and Aging!