Beyond Western models: Spiritual care in community-based day services for older adults in Indonesia

As Indonesia experiences rapid population aging without a formal national framework for older adult day care, community-based initiatives such as Rumah Kasih Sayang (RKS) have become vital supports for later-life well-being. This study examines the services offered at RKS and analyzes how these contribute to older adults’ physical, psychological, social, and spiritual well-being. Using an inductive qualitative design and reflexive thematic analysis, interviews were conducted with service providers and older adults. Findings show that RKS represents a distinct spiritual care model that extends beyond established physical, psychosocial, and mixed approaches to day care. Structured religious practices including Qur’anic recitation, dhikr (ongoing remembrance) and communal worship operate alongside exercise, health monitoring, recreation, and vocational work to form an integrated care system. These services function through interconnected embodied, social, and spiritual pathways, supporting improved mobility, greater emotional stability, reduced loneliness, strengthened relational bonds, and deepened spiritual peace and acceptance. Spiritual engagement emerged as a central coping resource that facilitates meaning-making. This study offers new empirical and conceptual insight into how spiritually informed day care can foster holistic flourishing among older adults and provides a culturally grounded model for supporting aging in place within religious communities.