The Wayne E. Oates Institute is a Connected Learning Community exploring spirituality and health as a way to advance integrative care for the whole person. The Oates Institute is a non-profit educational organization made up of caregivers from the medical, spiritual and counseling communities providing a forum for joining together as an interdisciplinary dialogue toward understanding the relationship between spirituality and the healing process.

As Baby Boomers move toward retirement age in better health overall than prior generations, concerns regarding meaning and fulfillment in life will parallel and at times outweigh concerns over material well-being and physical health. Issues of meaning, hopelessness, boredom, and fear are significant spiritual issues within the aging process and addressing these issues in positive ways affects overall well-being and health. A new Special Issue on Spirituality and Aging has just been published by the Oates Journal to help spiritual care givers address some of these issues.

• Patricia Pickett, D.Min., "The Tapestry of Aging: An Introduction"
• Jane Marie Thibault, Ph.D., "Dedicated Suffering: Using Personal Pain to Create Loving Energy for Others"
• Harriet Mowat, Ph.D., "The Ageing Journey and Its Spiritual Tasks"
• Elizabeth MacKinlay, Ph.D., "Loneliness in Later Life: Will the Experience of Baby Boomers be Different?"
• Melissa Wood Alemán, Ph.D., "Managing Dialectical Tensions in Later Life Marriage and Families"
• Rosalie Hudson, Ph.D., "Body and Spirit: One Journey, One Future"
• Paul D. Simmons, Ph.D., "Spirituality and Successful Aging: Twelve Rules for the Road"