Identifying the Spiritually Needy Patient: The Role of Demographics

This empirical study of hospital patients and community persons, uses Reker's Life Attitude Profile-Revised (LAP-R) to determine the extent to which the basic demographic data of patients is associated with spiritual neediness. The LAP-R is a 36-item scale with six dimensions. ANOVA results suggest that male hospital patients possess more spiritual need than females (F=4.51; p=0.04), and that those with less education are more needy (F=4.46; p=0.01). Those who never or infrequently attend worship services are also more needy than those who attend twice per week (F=3.39; p=0.01). When all the demographic variables in the ANOVA model are considered together, they explain 27 percent of the variance in the LAP-R scores. The various dimension scores and their relationship to demographic variables is further elucidated. Analysis of data from persons in the community revealed both fewer and less powerful associations. The results suggest that chaplains can use demographic data to estimate the spiritual neediness...