Care Homes and Spiritual Care

Care homes and spiritual care

In a recent blog I highlighted the 'My Home Life' project which included as part of the journey of experience for residents the importance of support for faith and spiritual care.

Our Training and Development Co-ordinator, Helen Welsh, recently undertook a very small study of how spiritual care is understood and supported within a care home setting.  The study took place in five care homes and we are conscious of the limitations within which the work was done but it does provide a good snapshot on which to build future work.

Some key elements which emerged were

·         the important role that is played by Activities Co-ordinators in enabling wider discussions during the process of a particular activity

·         recognition by care home staff of their own spiritual needs and that by doing so they are better able to identify and meet those of their residents

Helen used Koenig's 14 aspects of spiritual care as the basis of the study and the following is the list as prioritised by the care home staff participating

Personal dignity and sense of worthiness To find meaning, purpose and hope Continuity Unconditional love Rising above circumstances To love and serve others To forgive and be forgiven

Validation and support of religious behaviours Support in dealing with loss Engagement in religious behaviours Expression of anger and doubt Being thankful Feeling that God is on their side Preparing for death and dying

One of the other issues highlighted in the study was the role of care home chaplains which ought to be further explored. In two of the homes represented in this sample, there was an organisational chaplaincy role. This is perhaps unusual. More often, care homes are served by local faith groups who may involve themselves to a greater or lesser extent. However, this latter approach is less systematic, and much less likely to offer support to staff struggling with the emotional anxieties of the job.  Chaplaincy is now well established within the NHS and the lessons learned in that field would be a valuable resource for care homes in establishing their own support systems.

There is much food for thought and action in the report and our thanks to Helen Welsh for the work she undertook on this issue.  The full report is available on the FiOP website www.faithinolderpeople.org.uk

As always thoughts and ideas for follow up would be welcome

Maureen O'Neill

June 2015

My Home Life

‘My Home Life’

I recently attended an excellent seminar organised by City University, London, with support from the Henry Smith Charity. The participants came from all over the UK and represented a range of voluntary and statutory sector organisations with a concern for ensuring that older people in care homes retained their connection with their local community – the one they were used to before becoming a resident and the one engaged with the care home.  Community was defined by interest and connection not just geographical.

The discussions were wide ranging and embraced volunteering, relatives, intergenerational, creative activities and spiritual care.  It is clear that older people entering care homes are now both older and frailer with a much higher level of dependency and therefore the need to high quality trained staff is critical but that staff also need to be supported and valued.  A key challenge is to overcome the fact that society struggles with care homes in terms of quality, relatives guilt sometimes, perceptions of ‘money grabbing’ and a feeling that they are undesirable but necessary.

Care homes have been seen as ‘ islands of the old isolated from their communities’ and the purpose of the workshop was to consider ways in which connections and ways of engaging the local community could be better developed.  Lots of interesting and creative ideas emerged from the discussion.

Care homes have historically been ‘islands of the old – isolated from their local communities’ and we were all asked to contribute our current work to the themes identified in this train journey:-

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Extract from the presentation made by Tom Owen – My Home Life Team.  Email: mhl@city.ac.uk   www.myhomelife.org.uk

Faith and spiritual support (blue ring) played a significant role so I would welcome your ideas, knowledge about current work and ideas about the challenges to be confronted.

Maureen O’Neill – ideas to info@fiop.org.uk

Body, Mind and Spirit

Body, Mind and Spirit

This is the way that the World Health Organisation describes what good health should encompass.  Two seminars I have attended recently have addressed issues around mental health and palliative care which embrace these concepts.

A focus on the spiritual dimension in understanding individuals and finding out where they can develop their coping strengths is an essential element when we are considering how to retain connections and to combat loneliness.

We need to listen, to see and hear the individual and have the capacity for kindness.  A Joseph Rowntree report (13^th December 2013 – A Better Life Programme) highlights the fact that kindness is a critical quality and that other skills can be taught.  TLC might be thought as old fashioned but emerges as a fundamental need  “if we don’t recruit, train and support intelligent kindness, we all face a bleak future” (JRF Report 2013).

Voluntary Health Scotland has brought together a group to consider mental health issues and the Scottish Government are currently considering its ‘Palliative and End of Life Care Strategic Framework’; further information can be obtained from Http://www.nhsinform.co.uk/palliativecare/. 

Maureen O’Neill

June 2015