A mHealth-Supported Volunteer-Assisted Spiritual Well-Being Intervention for Discharged Older Patients: A Tripartite Collaboration

Abstract

<p>Spiritual well-being (SWB) is a key construct in a holistic health model. This study applied a theory-driven mobile health-supported volunteer-assisted self-help (mVS) intervention to enhance SWB for discharged older patients through a medical-social-academia tripartite collaboration. This study followed a quasi-experimental design, conducted from 2017 to 2019. Data were collected from pre- and post-intervention assessment and Clinical Management System under the Hospital Authority in Hong Kong. SWB was assessed by the Spirituality Scale for Chinese Elders with seven domains, a validated scale suitable for the non-religious context. A total of 161 discharged older patients were recruited, 101 received the mVS intervention and 60 received standardized usual volunteer visits. mVS intervention was assisted by volunteers supported by a corresponding mobile application <em>Fu Le Man Xin</em>. The final analysis included 137 older patients living in Hong Kong aged 61 to 94 years. Repeated measures ANOVA showed mVS intervention significantly enhanced two domains of SSCE: meaning of life (<em>F</em>(1, 64) = 4.029, <em>p</em> = .049) and relationship with others (<em>F</em>(1, 57) = 6.428, <em>p</em> = .014). This study shows that mVS intervention is a feasible medical-social-academia tripartite collaboration that improves two domains of the SWB of discharged older patients: meaning of life and relationship with others.<br></p>