In the preamble to the constitution of the World Health Organization, health is defined as …………” a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity.” The definition emphasizes that a person is more than just an individual free from sickness. It identifies 3 aspects of wellness – body, mind and spirit – which can be changed by behavior or style of living. Every individual consciously or unconsciously demonstrates behavior which affects their sense of well being.
Nurses and other members of the healthcare team are well able to competently take care of patients’ physiological and psychosocial needs. However, spiritual healing has been often ignored or only partially undertaken, especially in the area of geriatric patient care. To provide total or holistic health care to residents & their families, we must think about the 3 major areas of body, mind and spirit.
Spiritual care is a very important part of the nursing process for the elderly. What is “spiritual care”? It involves meeting those needs of the resident or patient that transcend but at the same time intervene for their physiological and psychosocial needs. The spiritual aspect of the person involves finding deeper meaning in everything, including life, sickness, and even death. Such understanding is essential for the overall well – being of the patient or resident.
I am the Director of Pastoral Care at a Nursing and Rehab Center. I will be there 13 years this January. One of the myths about Nursing Homes is that you go there to die. Not so as our 450 seniors, average ages from 80 to 105 are fully alive and actively participating in various spiritual programs. Good liturgy and worship is very important to them.
When they first are admitted our chaplains do a first visit to assess the spiritual needs of that person and follow up with many pastoral care visits thereafter to provide them with support and encouragement. There are daily spiritual activities such as Mass and Protestant services. There is a Chapel on the premises that persons of all faiths can visit whenever they desire to. Services in the Chapel consist of praying the Divine Mercy on Mondays, the Novena to the Immaculate Conception on Tuesdays, the Rosary on Wednesdays, Protestant Service and Fellowship on Thursday and also there is Choir Practice on Thursday. We have an active choir called the “Heavenly Voices” that sings at Mass on Sunday. There are 5 active Prayer Groups, one of them on our Alzheimer’s community. The first group began in 2003 with 4 residents and has grown today to five groups with 15 to 25 members in each group. They were named by our residents and are called the “Healing Circles”. They meet weekly on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays to pray and reflect on the Scriptures. The scriptures are proclaimed by the resident lectors. The majority of them are proclaiming the Word from their wheelchairs. The “Healing Circles” can be led by a Chaplain, Pastoral Care Staff, Recreation Therapists or a trained Volunteer or Resident and call upon God’s support giving praise and thanksgiving for the blessings and challenges of the week. They pray for one another, their families and for the world but more importantly form lasting friendships because they have bonded together sharing their worries and concerns. These small Christian communities believe that they are participating in the larger church’s call to mission and it’s also helping them to extend their spiritual journey to God. The Prayer Groups help our seniors to realize they are a vital part of the Church, as their prayers go out for the whole world in response to the gospel proclaimed and shared in the community. What is important, above all, is that the community regularly engages the question of how its life together concretely issues into building up the Body of Christ in the world.
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