Faith Found to Give Strength to the Elderly

Growing old can be a lot easier with strong religious faith, according to several new studies.

Researchers at Southern California College in Costa Mesa found elderly persons who are religiously active tend to be more optimistic and better able to cope with illness than people who are less religious.

Even as people’s physical ability declined, they still relied on their belief in God to combat loneliness and provide them with psychological support, one study found.

The findings, part of a growing body of research showing a positive relation between religion and successful aging, can be useful both to medical professionals treating elderly patients and religious leaders who may discount the spiritual needs of older people in declining health, said Shirley Albertson Owens, the lead researcher in many of the projects.

“Optimistic people are more healthy,” said Owens, chairman of the psychology department at Southern California College, a private college affiliated with the Assemblies of God. “If religion is promoting optimism, which is promoting better health, there are a lot of implications there.”

The study findings were scheduled to be reported today at a seminar on religion and aging at the joint meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion and the Religious Research Assn. in Raleigh, N.C.

In two separate studies in Orange County--one of 40 older adults at senior citizens centers and another of 32 adults in senior centers and churches--Southern California College researchers led by Owens found that even as the mental faculties of older people decline, they are still capable of using various religious methods to comfort themselves.

In the study of 32 people with an average age of 73, more than nine in 10 participants said prayer was important in their life and God was a source of strength and support. Eighty-four percent said their relationship with God helped prevent loneliness.

The research indicates that even individuals no longer able to recognize family members may benefit from attending church or other religious practices, Owens said.

For example, a nurse may find praying with an older patient to be a therapeutic exercise, researchers said.

A separate study sponsored by Owens and conducted by A.J. Berg and R.L. Rhone on religion and optimism involving interviews with 38 older Southern Californians found those people who considered themselves to be religious also rated themselves as optimistic.

Robert W. Duff, a sociology professor at the University of Portland who has done studies on religion and aging, said the Southern California College research is consistent with other studies, including one of his own that showed religiously active older people had relatively high life satisfaction ratings.

He said the research showing the importance of religious beliefs is potentially significant because it was carried out in retirement communities on the West Coast, an area of the country not associated with high degrees of religious practices.

The research on the positive effects of religion on aging comes at a period when other studies indicate churches have practiced benign neglect toward some of their older members.

In a 1992 study, nearly half the people ages 65 and older interviewed in a Holy Cross College study of 200 Christian worshipers said they would like to attend church more often, but are stuck at home because they lack transportation, among other obstacles.

A study of so-called “unchurched Americans” by Penny Long Marler of Samford University and C. Kirk Hadaway of the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries found a significant percentage are unable to attend church for reasons ranging from chronic health problems to a lack of transportation.

Sociologists say it would be a mistake for religious leaders to ignore the body of research showing the importance of religion to older Americans.