Geriatric Mental Health Disaster and Emergency Preparedness

Chapter 12 Complementary and Alternative Approaches 229
monly held belief is that nature and animals have special spiritual power
that can strengthen humans. The spirituality of native North Americans is
intertwined intimately with ancestors, whose spirits reside within the living
and are the basis for an individual’s growth in wisdom (Institute of
Spirituality and Aging, n.d.).
For many African Americans, spirituality includes both traditional religious
practices, such as Bible reading, as well as a sense of the divine passed
down by word of mouth. Some Black spirituality has roots in various African
tribal rituals that have become intermingled with songs and storytelling
from slavery (Institute of Spirituality and Aging, n.d.). Older African
Americans utilize prayer, forgiveness, helping others, and other private
spiritual practices to relieve their concerns and stress during difficult
times (Lee & Sharpe, 2007 ).
Asian Americans are one of the fastest growing ethnic groups. Yet the
paucity of studies on the spirituality of the 43 Asian subethnic groups makes
it difficult to generalize about their spiritual practices within this brief review.
However, Lee (2007 ) reported that older foreign-born Chinese and
Koreans who reside in the United States participate in religious events
of various types and have daily spiritual experiences that give them emotional
support.
Puerto Rican spiritualism is called espiritismo. It is a combination of
Christian, African, and South American spiritual and religious practices
( Baez & Hernandez, 2001; Rivera, 2005) that prides itself on keeping a
balance among all these influences. Those who practice espiritismo use
herbs for purification and communication with incarnate spirits.
The majority of Mexican Americans, the second fastest growing ethnic
population in the United States, practice fairly traditional Christian
spirituality. However, Aztec rituals that connect individuals with the spirits
or saints may be imbedded within that tradition. Most of these rituals
involve incense, pilgrimages, herbs, limpias, sacrifices, and establishing
shrines to key saintly spirits. With the sacrifice is a request for favor or protection
( Lujan & Campbell, 2006).
Spirituality’s Relationship to Disasters
Older Black survivors of Hurricane Katrina called upon spirituality to help
them rebound from the effects of the disaster (Lawson & Thomas, 2007 ).
Most of them relied upon their belief that a higher power, referred to as
God, was listening to their prayers and pleas for help. Many perceived