Characteristics of Spirituality in the Lives of Women in a Rural Appalachian Community

Abstract

The aim of this study was to add to nursing's knowledge base relative to spirituality by exploring how women in rural Appalachia experience and describe spirituality in their daily lives. Data was gathered through participant observation in a small rural community in West Virginia, including in-depth interviews of five women from the community. Characteristics of spirituality included belief in God or Greater Source, prayer/meditation, and a sense of relationship or connectedness with others, nature and oneself. The dominant theme which emerged relative to these relationships was that of self-reliance or inner strength. Spirituality for these women relates to the whole of life and is relational.