Spiritual Care at Peace Hospice (From Watford Observer)

Spiritual Care at Peace Hospice

3:57pm Thursday 19th March 2009 in Peace Hospice By Peace Hospice

The Hospice has recently appointed a Spiritual Care Co-ordinator the Reverend Carol Page to its team, to support patients and Hospice colleagues.

Spiritual Care is about helping people to make sense of what is happening in their lives. For some, that may involve providing for their religious needs be it prayer, Holy Communion, Sacrament of the Sick or access to religious texts. For others it may be having someone with whom to explore the feelings of anger, fear, anxiety and loneliness which often accompany having a terminal illness or caring for a relative who is dying. Spiritual Care is about sharing a part of the journey with them.

Reverend Carol will be visiting patients and relatives in the Hospice’s inpatient unit, the day care service and hopefully also visiting patients in their own homes. She will be providing religious resources for staff as well as patients and will also be delivering training for staff in spiritual healthcare issues.

Staff and volunteers already provide good spiritual care but there are times when patients and their families want to take a conversation deeper than the staff member may feel comfortable with, or is able to go. Having someone who is trained and experienced in caring for people in complex and emotionally distressing circumstances can often be invaluable.

Reverend Carol also has the contacts and resources to develop links in the local faith communities to ensure that the spiritual and religious needs of people of all faiths and of those with no specific faith are met.

Reverend Carol said "Being able to spend quality time with patients and their families in a well-supported and caring environment, and the prospect of providing training for staff which is on-going and which can, in an organisation of this size, really make a difference, is a most rewarding and important aspect of my role"