{"id":52190,"date":"2021-07-07T09:27:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-07T09:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hospitalarias.org\/en\/?p=52190"},"modified":"2021-07-07T09:27:00","modified_gmt":"2021-07-07T09:27:00","slug":"spiritual-care-in-healthcare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hospitalarias.org\/en\/spiritual-care-in-healthcare\/","title":{"rendered":"Spiritual care in healthcare"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Dr Michele Venanzi, coordinator of the Pastoral Care service at the Sisters Hospitallers\u2019 \u201cVilla San Benedetto Menni\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/ospedaliere.it\/\">in Milan, Italy<\/a>, since 2012, discusses how interesting and challenging it can be to take charge, as a lay person, of an area traditionally relegated to members of a religious order and culturally considered secondary in comparison to other clinical and social health areas. \u00a0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hospitalarias.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/07\/eeee.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-52194\" width=\"237\" height=\"285\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is important to note that context can\nmake a difference from a cultural perspective: carrying out pastoral duties at\nthe clinic of a religious congregation is much easier than doing so at a\nnon-Christian hospital, where spiritual care is considered little more than\ncomplementary to the huge work done by health care professionals. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nevertheless,&nbsp;offering <strong>pastoral\ncare to the health centre\u2019s different departments remains a complex task.<\/strong>&nbsp;In\nfact, only recently has science considered a bio-psychological and spiritual\napproach to patient care to be valid. Previously, the spiritual aspect was not included\nas a dimension of medical care.&nbsp;<strong>A certain mentality still persists\ntoday in which spirituality and piety represent highly personal dimensions of\nthe human being, to the extent that they should not be taken into account upon\nadmission. &nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, in time, a pastoral caregiver\nproviding assistance, integration, and support to both professionals and\npatients may be viewed as a welcome addition, rather than an intrusion on\nconventional socio-healthcare structures. The approach helps reveal the extent\nto which <strong>the frailty of the human condition, tried and tested by the pain\nand confusion of disease, has the right to be considered the subject of care\nand attention, <\/strong>beyond the necessary medical interventions applied to treat\na clinical situation. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is precisely with this spirit and\nthis mentality that the Houses in the province in Italy are implementing\npastoral care that correctly addresses the specific needs of each centre, while\nbeing centrally coordinated thanks to the work of the Provincial Commission for\nPastoral Care and Institutional Training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Moreover, for many years now, the\nCommission has provided the opportunity for the pastoral coordinators of the\nHouses to meet (in person or online) in an effort to find common courses of\naction regarding both area training and the actions targeting the different\ndepartments at each centre.&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For myself and my colleagues, gathering\nat the Provincial House is very important, both symbolically and literally: to\nbe reminded that we are all a part of a single Province and a single Mission\nhelps us feel a sense of unity and we are more united in our crusade to perform\nHospitaller work that is as \u201cold\u201d as it is \u201cimplicit.\u201d Doing so as a layperson\ncan be complex, but it is also very motivating and generates a great sense of\nresponsibility, because it is precisely these pastoral paths that define the\nInstitutional Identity we must preserve.&nbsp;<strong>Thus, we can be considered,\nstill today, worthy perpetuators of Father Menni\u2019s work.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Training and relational actions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Generally speaking, pastoral service\npromotes training and relational actions. With regard to training, the service\noffers courses and themed meetings on the Institutional Identity Framework and,\nspecifically, Hospitaller values, particularly for newly incorporated\ncollaborators who are fully immersed in a new reality, learning what it means\nto work at a Sisters Hospitallers clinic. The service is also responsible for\norganising scientific training events, in humanism and spirituality, which are\nof interest to those dedicated to spirituality, as well as those who contribute\nto the wellbeing of patients through a holistic or multidisciplinary approach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From a relational perspective, pastoral\nservices can range from spiritual care tailored to each patient or their family\nthrough pastoral dialogues focused on human intimacy and solace (and often\ncompassion), to the organisation of small gatherings to address religious\nissues (i.e.: read the gospel) and discuss them in the context of each person\u2019s\nlife. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Moreover, we cannot discard the extent\nto which the pastoral service, in conjunction with the community of sisters,\nplans ceremonial occasions and events at important times of the year, from the\nliturgical season to the Congregation\u2019s major celebrations. It is also\nimportant to involve patients and personnel in these religious events, which\nare an opportunity to meet, pray together, and renew our institutional\nidentity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To conclude, I would like to reassert\nthat <strong>pastoral care is essentially a service whose mission is to build\nbridges between the different levels and areas of a centre. <\/strong>Pastoral care\ncan serve as a bridge between the sisters and the collaborators, between the\ndifferent departments of the House, between the Hospitaller Project and Hospitaller\nIdentity, and, as the Founder was fond of saying, between Science and Charity.\nAnd considering how much Pope Francis appreciates the word \u201cbridge,\u201d none of\nthis seems insignificant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dr Michele Venanzi, coordinator of the Pastoral Care service at the Sisters Hospitallers\u2019 \u201cVilla San Benedetto Menni\u201d in Milan, Italy, since 2012, discusses how interesting and challenging it can be to take charge, as a lay person, of an area traditionally relegated to members of a religious order and culturally considered secondary in comparison to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52191,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[588],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cat-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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