Samta Pandya

Ageing and Spirituality: Understanding the Construction, Engagement and Influences Samta Pandya

The interface of ageing and spirituality is a postulate that deems empirical investigation. This monograph is based on a study of 906 ageing respondents in Mumbai, India, on their constructions of meaning of spirituality, spiritual beliefs, practices, experiences, involvement in spiritual organisations and perceived influences of spirituality on various dimensions of the ageing process. Spirituality was perceived to provide support, aid relationship building and maintenance, facilitate coping with stress and ideas and issues in relation to death and dying. Further it was also viewed as enabling deconstruction of popular notions of ageing, provide a pathway to soul liberation and detachment/ disengagement as a precursor to well being in late life. The study submits that the findings have implications for epistemology of social gerontology in terms of insertions of spirituality facets and for praxis in terms of cognisance of the quintessentiality of spiritually inclined social work practice with ageing individuals.