Spiritual Care Strategy 2023-2026
The 3-year Spiritual Care Strategy will have 4 focused areas of work:
- Raising the visibility of Spiritual Care
- Loss, grief and bereavement
- Care planning that reflects the holistic nature of healthcare
- Development and delivery of education and training specific to spiritual care and wellbeing and reflective practice
Focus 1 – Raising the visibility of Spiritual Care
The Spiritual Care and Wellbeing service aims to lead the way in providing inclusive care for all patients, families, volunteers and staff.
We are passionate about delivering spiritual care that is person centred, attending to the whole person.
No matter who we are, we may have doubts and questions as we try to f ind meaning in our lives. This can be more so when we experiencing pain and suffering. Spiritual Care and Wellbeing provides a space to explore these issues and support you in your spiritual, religious and philosophical beliefs.
Raising the visibility of spiritual care ensures that people are aware of and have access to Spiritual Care services.
Our Spiritual Care and Wellbeing Centre is a physical space. For some this provides a sacred space to pray. For everyone, it provides a quiet zone with a different pace to slow down and reflect.
The Spiritual Care and Wellbeing Centre has 3 areas:
- Reception area – an informal relaxed space to pause, write your thoughts and prayers in the book of reflections, or sit quietly.
- The Sanctuary provides a small reflective space with access to comfortable seating, reflective and religious materials. This is an ideal place for intentional quiet and reflection.
- The Prayer Room is an additional area for people of spiritual, religious and philosophical belief to either pray and/or meditate.
What we will do
- We will work with staff and volunteers to promote the spiritual care and wellbeing service and centre.
- We will review and update our printed and digital resources.
- We will also engage with staff, visitors, patients and our volunteers to promote the benefits of accessing our services.
Focus 2 – Loss, grief and bereavement
We will support patients, carers, families and staff experiencing loss, grief and bereavement in line with the Bereavement Charter Scotland (NHS Education for Scotland).
The question ‘What matters to you?’ remains important during palliative and end of life care. The Spiritual Care and Wellbeing team support patients, families and staff as part of the multidisciplinary team.
It is important that we also attend to the wellbeing of staff either 1-to-1 or in groups, a space to reflect on the
What we will do
- We will review and update information available to support our people in living through loss, grief and bereavement.
- We will continue to provide high quality spiritual care support for staff, visitors, patients and our volunteers experiencing loss, grief and bereavement.
- In addition we will provide education and training to staff and volunteers to support them to support colleagues, visitors and patients. work they do to support the patient journey and families; to promote education and training to inform the workforce on loss, grief and bereavement.
Focus 3 – Care planning that reflects the holistic nature of healthcare
This area of focus is connected to focus 1, raising the visibility of spiritual care.
Care planning is person centred, safe and effective and takes into account the whole person and promotes their wellbeing.
The World Health Organization defined health as not only the absence of disease but also took into account the social, economic, emotional, psychological and spiritual dimensions of health.
Therefore, the best practice in health and social care attends to the whole person – the physical, mental, social and spiritual aspects of human living. All of our staff have a responsibility to provide an appropriate level of spiritual care for patients and relatives in their area of work (NHS Education for Scotland, 2009).
When emotional and spiritual needs are addressed, people experience a greater sense of resilience in dealing with ill-health and social issues.
All of our staff have a responsibility to provide an appropriate level of spiritual care for patients and relatives in their area of work (NHS Education for Scotland, 2009).
By asking these questions, patients feel heard and valued for who they are:
- Do you have a way of making sense of the things that happen to you?
- What sources of support/help do you look to when life is difficult?
- Would you like to see someone who can help you talk or think through the impact of this illness/ life event?
What we will do
- We will work with, and provide training and support for, our staff and volunteers to increase their confidence and capability to provide care planning that is holistic and person-centred.
Focus 4 – Development and delivery of education and training specific to spiritual care and wellbeing and reflective practice
Staff are our best asset and it is important that they feel valued (World Health Organization, 2020).
A number of themes emerge across professions like compassion fatigue and a cultural shift in thinking that includes realistic medicine.
The Spiritual Care and Wellbeing Team can contribute to their professional development and support their wellbeing and resilience.
What we will do We are mindful that, since the pandemic, staff continue to process the sense of moral injury experienced and the continued psychological impact of caring for others.
