نشریه تاریخ پزشکی
پیاپی 25 (زمستان 1394)

The world’s elderly population is the fastest growing age group especially in developing countries such as Iran. In spite of studies about health of older people, there are a few studies about exploration of spiritual well-being of older people. This study was conducted to understand and gain deeper insight into Iranian older people lived experiences of spiritual well-being.
A qualitative research design based on van Manens phenomenological methodology developed. In-depth open ended interviews used to collect the data from 16 older people that selected based on purposeful sampling of workplace, park and cultural center. Research activities of van Manens methodology used for analysis of verbatim transcripts. Trustworthiness of qualitative data is confirmed by criteria’s of credibility, conformability, dependability and transferability.
Three themes favor of God, hope, and calm, were emerged which the phenomenon of spiritual well-being could be illustrated. The favor of God was included sub themes of health as favor, authority of God and being responsible. The hope was included sub themes of being feeled, overcome on disappointments, and beautiful mind. The calm was included sub themes of spiritual well-being as interstices believe and behavioral symbol of it.
The spiritual well-being is of main domains of health in older people. The spiritual well being is in close relationship with beliefs and religions of older peoples. It provides goal and direction for health and lives of older people. These findings must consider in promotion health of older person.

According to the young population of Iran and growing changes in the concept of health and life patterns in Iranian society, this study investigates the relationship between spiritual health as an important factor in health, with three dimensions of mental health (stress, anxiety and depression).
The present study is the correlation type. The population of this research includes undergraduate students of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. , 400 subjects were selected among them by random cluster sampling method. To collect the data, beliefs and spiritual behaviors Questionnaire (Salehi Fadardi et al., under publication) and DAS 21 Questionnaire (Lavybnd and Lavybnd, 1995) is used. Data analysis is done based on correlation through SPSS 22 software.
there is a significant positive relationship between spiritual health and mental health (01 / 0P≤). Furthermore it has been observed a negative correlation between spiritual health and mental problems (stress, anxiety and depression) in male and female students separately.
This study shows that whatever students have a higher spiritual health, stress, anxiety and depression are lower, and therefore they have better mental health.

Health definition offered by World Health Organization emphasizes the spiritual aspect of human beings in addition to his physiological dimensions. Regarding the loss of any consensual agreement on the concept of spirituality, authors of the present article believe that typology of the spirituality perceptions as they are understood by the main actors of the medical care system can be supposed as a critical entry in the conceptual explanation of spirituality.
Participators of the study include physicians, nurses, instructors of the medical ethics, social workers, hospital managements, patients and their visitors who were engaged in hospitals of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. They were selected purposefully. Required qualitative data was gathered through investigation of formal documents as well as interviews. Data analysis has been done on the basis of qualitative data analysis procedures.
Among those providing cure services, spirituality was perceived in the forms of "sacred ontology-based spirituality", "transcendental spirituality" and "horizontal spirituality". On the other hand, those receiving cure services understood spirituality as "ritual spirituality", "cultural-conventional spirituality" and "legal rightoriented spirituality" as well. While in the "sacred ontology-based spirituality" God’s doings as well as His orders are supposed to be as the ultimate sources of meaning, motivations placed behind any given action are highly emphasized in "transcendental spirituality". "Horizontal spirituality" and spirituality types identified among those receiving cure services are generally oriented toward cultural conventional combination of vertical as well as social bases of meaning.
Interconnectedness of spirituality and ethics have significant implications in their institutionalizations in medical relationships in the cultural context of Iranian society. Social actors suppose various representations as the evidences of spirituality. Yet, spirituality can promote the spirit of human if only it includes nonmaterial elements oriented toward "ideal observer". Under such a deep comprehensive understanding of spirituality one’s spirit can be released from implausible "dualities" such as death-life duality common to modern socialization and experience "unity" through application of the concepts like "philosophy of health and sickness" and "meaningfulness of existence". Achievement of mentioned multidimensional insight and its application as well require a basic reform in the procedures of modern socialization in which death is absolutely marginalized and various kinds of mechanisms are applied so that it can mentally be neglected. Mentioned mechanisms lose their utilities in the circumstances of sickness and leave patients alone in the process of rational intellectual meaning constructing of health, death and sickness as well.