Body, mind and spirit
By Neale Roberts - Head of Chaplaincy and Pastoral Practice at Uniting
Spiritual care has been an antidote to the notion that health care institutions seek only to fix a disease or ailment but fail to take into account a person’s dignity, connectedness, and purpose.
The existence and connection between mind, body and the soul or spirit have long been debated in human history. Philosophers such as Descartes, Aristotle and Plato wrote extensively about the connectedness but difference between the tangible body and the intangible aspect of a person.
The soul or spirit of a person is particularly important to people of faith. The preference given to the soul or spirit of a person lies at the heart of their faith and the concept of life after death.
In more modern times, our systems have preferred the tangible aspect of a human being as we seek to measure and treat aspects of the human body. When it comes to health care, the body is everything as we diagnose, treat and assign a cost to all physical ailments. Even in mental health, the mind is treated, and the soul or spirit of a person is rarely taken into account in our health services.
In this context, it is worth celebrating this week, 40 years of Spiritual Care in health care.
Since the early nineties, many hospitals and medical training programs have recognised the role of spiritual care in all aspects of health care but particularly in palliative care.
Research since has shown significant improvements in health outcomes when a person’s spirituality is a focus.
At Uniting, we celebrate the emphasis and resources given to caring for the whole person as they interact with us. Our team of over 100 spiritual carers include chaplains and pastoral care practitioners who attend to the needs of residents in aged care, patients in hospitals and psychiatric hospitals and in prisons across NSW and the ACT. Just as importantly, our spiritual care is shared amongst our employees as well. Spiritual care employees are on hand every day to provide a listening environment for all Uniting people, particularly in aged care, to work through the difficult times of grieving, loss, and bereavement.
We listen, as individuals confront profound issues such as death, dying, physical deterioration and isolation.
We provide emotional support and advocacy. We enable conversations, often about difficult topics and we encourage reconciliation of broken relationships. None of this work is easy however our spiritual care employees are trained, experienced and excellent at providing quality care of the soul and spirit.
Spiritual care is well embedded in Uniting, as we always value the dignity of the whole person in our care.
Celebrating 40 years of Spiritual Care is significant and just as importantly, it is about celebrating the people who do the work. Please take the time to say hello to a chaplain or pastoral care practitioner and ask them about their work. Ask them how their work makes a difference in people’s lives. Better still, begin to practice spiritual care in the work that you do with your colleagues, your policies, and within yourself.