Being human, becoming whole : Understanding spiritual health and well- being
- Authors: Fisher, John
- Date: 2000
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Christian Education Vol. 43, no. 3 (2000), p. 37-52
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- Description: This chapter discusses what spirituality is and its place in education. Topics discussed are interest in spirituality, the nature of spirituality, dimensions of health, spiritual health and well being, and a model of spiritual health. Spirituality is innate, emotive, subjective, dynamic and not religion. Spiritual health and well being are reflected in the quality of relationships in four domains of human existence - people with themselves, with others, with the environment, and with a transcendent other. The model embraces the divergence of world views, beliefs and lived experiences of humanity, as expressed in the knowledge and inspirational aspects of spiritual well being in each of the domains.
Comparing levels of spiritual well-being in state, catholic and independent schools in Victoria, Australia
- Authors: Fisher, John
- Date: 2001
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Beliefs & Values: Studies in Religion & Education Vol. 22, no. 1 (2001), p. 99-105
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- Description: This article reports on a survey completed by Chaplains, Religious Education and Student Welfare Coordinators in State, Catholic and Independent schools in Victoria. Results from this survey support the model of spiritual well-being, which was seen to be reflected in the quality of relationships that people develop with themselves, others, the environment, and with a Transcendent Other. The staff surveyed generally reported positively on current practice and expressed high priorities for action in nurturing their students' spiritual well-being. School type contributed to significant differences in each of these four sets of relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
The nature of spiritual well-being and the curriculum : Some educators' views
- Authors: Fisher, John
- Date: 2001
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Christian Education Vol. 44, no. 1 (2001), p. 47-58
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- Description: This study inquired into how well students' spirituality was reflected in their spiritual health and wellbeing. Ninety- seven school staff were interviewed, drawn from 22 secondary schools in Victoria, Australia. The schools from which the staff were drawn included state (4), Catholic (4), and other non- government schools (14), with the latter including Aboriginal, Islamic, Jewish and Steiner schools. The staff included people in such roles as the principal, curriculum coordinator, chaplain of religious education coordinator, and student welfare coordinator. The methodology and findings are discussed. [Author abstract, ed]
Personality & spirituality : Christian prayer & Eastern meditation are not the same
- Authors: Fisher, John , Francis, Leslie , Kaldor, Peter
- Date: 2002
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Pastoral Psychology Vol. 50, no. 3 (2002), p. 165-172
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- Description: A random sample of 1,033 adults in an Australian community survey completed a form containing the abbreviated Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire together with questions about the practice of prayer and Eastern meditation. While prayer was associated with low psychoticism scores, Eastern meditation was associated with high psychoticism scores.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003000203
Using secondary students’ views about influences on their spiritual well being to inform pastoral care
- Authors: Fisher, John
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Children's Spirituality Vol. 11, no. 3 (2006), p. 347-356
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- Description: Spiritual well-being is reflected in the quality of relationships that each person has in up to four different domains, namely with self, with others, with the environment and/or with God. This study investigated how secondary students perceived relationships with family, friends, school and church community (including God) impacted on their spiritual well-being. This paper reports the views of 1002 secondary school students aged from 12 to 18 years old in Catholic, Christian community and other independent schools in Victoria, Australia. ANOVA and multiple regression analyses of students’ responses on the Quality Of Life Influences Survey developed in this study, and the Spiritual Health And Life Orientation Measure, a spiritual well-being questionnaire for secondary students, revealed significant differences in perceptions students held about influences on their spiritual well-being. A case study illustrates how these instruments can be used to inform pastoral care of young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Reaching the heart : Assessing & nurturing spiritual well-being via education
- Authors: Fisher, John
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Thesis , EdD
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- Description: Several quantitative measures of spiritual well-being were developed with primary and secondary school students and teachers, and university education students, namely the Spiritual Health And Life-Orientation Measure, Feeling Good, Living Life, and the Quality Of Life Influences Survey. Spiritual dissonance was revealed by comparing respondents’ ‘ideals’ with ‘lived experiences’ in four domains of spiritual well-being. Teachers and university education students reported a decline in help being provided in schools to develop the relationships which foster school students’ spiritual well-being.
- Description: Doctor of Education EdD
Pre-service teachers' spiritual well-being across time and faiths : Implications for religious education
- Authors: Fisher, John , Barnes, Philip , Marks, Genee
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Religious Education Journal of Australia Vol. 25, no. 2 (2009), p. 10-16
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- Description: Spiritual well-being (SWB) is reflected in the quality of relationships that people have in up to four areas, namely with themselves, with others, with the environment, and/or with God. A recent study has shown that the lived experiences of teachers have a major influence on their perceptions of help provided to nurture students' SWB in schools. Fischer's (1999) 20-item Spiritual Health and Life-Orientation Measure (SHALOM) elicited pre-service teachers' ideals for SWB, and their lived experiences in each of the four domains, as well as the level of help these pre-service teachers believe is provided to school students in these areas of their lives. Data were collected from 1361 pre-service teachers in public, secular and religious universities, and Christian universities in Australia and Northern Ireland in 2000 and 2007-08. Significant variations were found in levels of SWB by gender and university type and between pre-service teachers from one year to another. The pre-service teachers in these studies were not overly optimistic about the level of help provided to nurture school students' relationship with God. This finding has implications for religious education in schools, as well as discussions of the holistic development and well-being of students. [Author abstract]
- Description: 2003007943
Spirituality and religious education in the national curriculum: A response to Duncan Reid
- Authors: Fisher, John
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Religious Education Journal of Australia Vol. 28, no. 1 (2012), p. 3-8
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- Description: Duncan Reid's paper provided a springboard from which to launch into discussions about making space for Religious Education in the (Australian) National Curriculum (REJA, 27(2):10-15, 2011). Some brief comments are presented in this paper to expand thinking in the area of religious education with particular reference to spirituality. Due to size constraints and editorial direction, references of research in the area of spirituality related to religious education, that were edited out of the Australian College of Educators book on Australian perspectives on education and spirituality, have also been included here. It is hoped that this response will add to and help inform the debate about the place of Religious Education (and spirituality) in the evolving Australian National Curriculum.
Investigating spiritual well-being among Islamic Divinity and religious education students in Turkey
- Authors: Coskun, Mehmet , Fisher, John
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Religious Education Journal of Australia Vol. 29, no. 2 (2013), p. 21-28
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- Description: In light of increased emphasis on universities being called to facilitate spiritual growth among students, the Spiritual Health And Life-Orientation Measure was used to assess four domains of spiritual well-being among 122 Divinity and 137 Religious Education students in Turkey. Students provided three responses to 20 items reflecting spiritual well-being, indicating their ideals for spiritual well-being, lived experience and how much university helped in each area. Another 16 potential factors were explored to help students develop their spiritual well-being, ranging from self-improvement to scripture. High scores on ideals for spiritual well-being, reported by both groups of students, underpin the lived experiences of Religious Education and Divinity students in each of four domains of spiritual well-being. Relating with God significantly influenced aspects of spiritual well-being but it appears that the highly religious students overstate the influence of religious activities, such as prayer and scripture, on their spiritual well-being. Universities provide small yet significant support in developing the four domains of spiritual well-being for these students. Overall, this study has shown many similarities, yet some significant variations in spiritual well-being between these Divinity and Religious Education students in Turkey. This project provides a sound base from which future studies can be launched to review, enhance and monitor university students' spiritual well-being and to determine the influence of these students' spiritual well-being on the clients they will serve after graduating and gaining employment.
Importance of relating with God for spiritual well-being
- Authors: Fisher, John
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Thesis
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- Description: The importance of relating with God for Spiritual Well-Being Twenty years of research in spiritual health/well-being culminate in this thesis. My PhD (1998), University of Melbourne, presented a Four Domains Model of Spiritual Health/Well-Being. This formed the theoretical base for several spiritual well-being questionnaires, presented in my EdD (2009), University of Ballarat. The main instrument, Spiritual Health And Life-Orientation Measure (SHALOM), proposed a novel method of assessing quality of relationships which are posited as reflecting spiritual well-being. These relationships are of each person with themselves, others, the environment and/or with a Transcendent Other (God). Instead of just investigating lived experiences, SHALOM asks for two responses to each item. Each respondent’s lived experience is compared with their stated ideals. Studies presented herein show that this double-response method, comparing ideal with actual, provides a statistically stronger measure of quality of relationships than lived experiences alone, thus spiritual well-being. Eighteen publications included in this thesis relate to studies of spiritual well-being in educational, healthcare and general community settings. A total of 52 studies, using SHALOM with 41686 people from 27 countries, have shown that, of the four sets of relationships measured by SHALOM, relating with God explains greatest variance in spiritual well-being, so is therefore most important. An international study with people involved with, as well as some opposed to, spirituality and religious education led to a generic form of SHALOM, in which the theistic words were replaced by ‘Transcendent’, with 19 alternatives provided from which to select preferred Transcendent, or none. This project revealed that relating with God, as Transcendent, provides greatest support for a person’s relating with self and others, in contrast to help provided by non-theistic and non-religious Transcendents and not believing in Transcendents. This research implies that researchers need to investigate relationship with God in any study of spiritual well-being, whether or not it fits their personal worldview.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
A critique of quantitative measures for assessing spirituality and spiritual well-being
- Authors: Fisher, John
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Spirituality : Global Practices, Societal Attitudes and Effects on Health p. 91-130
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- Description: This chapter provides an analytical review of nearly 300 ways in which people have attempted quantitative assessments of spirituality or spiritual health/well-being (SH/WB) over the last 40 years. They range from single-item to multi-item measures. Each item in these measures has been classified using the theoretical framework provided by the author's four domains model of spiritual health & well-being. Some considered thoughts are presented relating to the purpose and ways of assessing spirituality and spiritual well-being. Types and forms of spirituality and spiritual well-being measures are discussed. Single-item measures are compared with multiple-item measures. A summary table is then presented containing 260 studies with distinct multi-item measures which pertain to spirituality, spiritual well-being and related measures in general populations, university student groups, school students and teachers, and in healthcare settings. These measures are all critiqued for content against the four domains model of spiritual health and well-being. © 2015 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.
From the beginning to spiritual well-being
- Authors: Fisher, John
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: Spirituality : Global Practices, Societal Attitudes and Effects on Health p. 155-172
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- Description: This chapter outlines potential interactions of God with humanity from the dawn of time through to attaining spiritual well-being. It briefly mentions alternative theories of origin, which connect to questions of ultimate reality, origin of human beings and our spiritual well-being. The nature of spirit and its relationship with soul and mind is then canvassed, followed by an account of historical developments in 'spirituality'. The author's Four Domains Model posits that Spiritual Health/Well-Being is reflected in the quality of relationships that each person has in up to four areas, namely with themselves, with others, with nature and/or with a Transcendent Other (commonly referred to as God). A critique of available measures of spirituality and spiritual well-being reveals a decline in the number of instruments assessing human relationships with God from earlier to more recent times. In contrast to this current trend of researchers selecting more humanistic emphases in spirituality/well-being in their research instruments, evidence is provided from recent findings that show that relating with God is the most important of the four sets of relationships for spiritual well-being. Further evidence is provided that God is the most influential Transcendent to enhance people's relationships with themselves and others. Although researchers are free to choose the nature of questions raised in their projects, findings presented here clearly show that any research that cuts God out of the equation is excising the foundation of spirituality/well-being. © 2015 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.
Validation of the persian version of spiritual well-being questionnaires
- Authors: Biglari Abhari, Mrayam , Fisher, John , Kheiltash, Azita , Nojomi, Marzieh
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Iranian journal of medical sciences Vol. 43, no. 3 (2018), p. 276-285
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- Description: Spiritual well-being is an important issue in health sciences, hence the need for validated instruments to assess this aspect of health in the Iranian population. The aim of the current study was to determine the validity of the Persian versions of 2 most common measures of spiritual health (Spiritual Well-Being Questionnaire [SWBQ] or Spiritual Health and Life-Orientation Measure [SHALOM] and Spiritual Well-Being Scale [SWBS]). This was a cross-sectional study via a convenience sampling method in Iran University of Medical Sciences with 170 participants aged above 18 years comprising students, teachers, and administrative staff and managers. The study was conducted from September 7, 2014 to September 20, 2015 in Tehran. Four questionnaires, namely the SWBQ, SWBS, General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), and Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ), were used. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS 18 and LISREL (version 8.2). Cronbach's alpha, intra-class correlation coefficient, Pearson correlation, and confirmatory factor analysis were employed to assess the validity and reliability of the questionnaires. Cronbach's alpha for the SWBQ and the SWBS was greater than 0.85. The repeatability of both questionnaires was between 0.88 and 0.98. The Pearson correlation for the SWBQ and the SWBS ranged from 0.33 to 0.53 and all the correlations were significant. The respondents who indicated a higher spiritual well-being also reported better general health and happiness. The Persian versions of the SWBS and the SWBQ have good reliability, repeatability, and validity to assess spiritual health in the Iranian population.
Portuguese version of the spiritual well-being questionnaire : validation study in people under assisted reproductive techniques
- Authors: Romeiro, Joana , Nogueira, Paulo , Fisher, John , Caldeira, Silvia
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Religions Vol. 13, no. 5 (2022), p.
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- Description: Attention has been given to the experience of individuals undergoing assisted reproductive techniques. However, only recent literature has focused on the spiritual journey triggered by such an event and highlighted the nurses and midwives’ roles in the assessment of the spiritual needs of those living with infertility. This study aimed to perform a psychometric test of the factor structure of the Portuguese version of the Spiritual Well-being Questionnaire in a sample of people undergoing assisted reproductive techniques. This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted between September 2019 and June 2020 on a sample of 104 Portuguese adults attending fertility treatment. An online questionnaire was released on fertility-related websites. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on six hypothesized models of the instrument. The findings provided evidence of an adequate internal consistency of the instrument, and the validity and reliability of the oblique four-factor model was confirmed. Spiritual well-being had a significant association with the nature of infertility and a higher score was achieved by participants that perceived religion as very important. This study provides a validated tool for nurses and midwives to assess spiritual well-being and promote an integrated reproductive healthcare approach. Further longitudinal research with bigger samples would provide more evidence of the spiritual needs of people living with this condition. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.