Caring for the body - caring for the soul

Upcoming conference to explore the search for the sacred in health care
 

By LAUREEN McMAHON

Benedictine priest Father Anselm Delacherois was in poor health and, for many decades of his life, lived at Youville Residence, a Providence Health Care (PHC) facility in Vancouver.

His physical condition remained unchanged until the week before his death March 24 at age 80, yet his poor health did not stop him from saying Mass for the Youville residents, according to his physician, Dr. Elizabeth Drance, PHC Director of Elder Care.

Laureen McMahon/The B.C. Catholic ElsieMizsak shares a laugh with Sister Eileen McAleese,CSJ,Director of Pastoral Care at Youville Residence.

“About seven years ago, I began to notice that he had begun to say Mass for the residents, first once and then twice a week. This made a tremendous difference in his life; he just shone when he was able to care for people in this way.

“He was such a pivotal part of our Youville community and a great example of how spiritual beliefs and practices can transform and help someone rise above illness.”

The connections between spirituality and healing will be explored May 2 and 3 at the Coast Plaza Hotel, when Providence Health Care hosts Naming and Claiming Spirituality: the Invisible Ingredient in Health and Healing.

Providence welcomes health care providers, community and social services practitioners, educators, government and religious leaders, and patients and their families to hear a roster of three dozen or so speakers coming from across Canada, the U.S., and as far away as Hong Kong.

Many topics will be covered. A few are: Spiritual Care and Spiritual Nuturing Programs for Chinese Older Persons, Addressing Compassion Fatigue, Nourishing the Soul of the Caregiver, and Spirituality and Healing: An Ancient Tradition.

Dr. Drance, herself a specialist in Geriatric Psychiatry, will outline the PHC Eden Alternative, a program which addresses the triple threat of aging: loneliness, helplessness, and boredom.

Conference organizer Brother Tom Maddix, CSC, PHC Vice President of Mission, Ethics, and Spirituality, told The B.C. Catholic that exploring how spirituality affects healing is critical, because “Spirituality is the glue that holds people together!

“Spirituality is a core value of the mission of Providence Health Care. It is the future of medicine, and its integration into treatment is simply a recognition of the vast heritage of spiritual and mind-body practices which have been developed throughout human history.”

It’s high time that health care providers incorporated spirituality into modern mainstream medical thinking and practice, Brother Maddix commented.

“While technology has made phenomenal advances in western medicine and opened the door to living longer, few health care professionals in the West are trained to address matters of the soul, a care component that is arguably as critical as the physical when it comes to staying and getting well.”

Brother Maddix deserves tremendous credit, said Dr. Drance, for giving health care providers and others a chance to further their understanding and appreciation of the impact of spirituality on healing.

“One of the biggest challenges in caring for people in our western culture is that, while we have done a fairly good job of learning how to treat disease, we sometimes confuse treating an illness with caring for a person,” said Dr. Drance.

Although aging is a natural part of life, she noted, it’s not always recognized that it can radically change how people view the meaning and purpose of their lives.

Especially in residential care, she noted, “Caring for people means, in many cases, helping them connect to new physical and cognitive realities. This is where the spiritual dimension can play a healing role, whatever its source.

“In residential care we must provide less of a hospital and more of a community atmosphere. There can be growth, even in the face of aging and illness. Having worked in health care over two decades, I have been very impressed with the power of pastoral care and religious services to help people whose spirituality is an important component of life.

“Good pastoral care makes a great contribution to the wellbeing of patients and residents at PHC. Our pastoral care professionals are skilled at discerning spiritual crises. To my knowledge, we are the only organization to provide pastoral associates in each of our locations, in both acute and residential care.”

Pastoral care staff, added Dr. Drance, use their skills to help the rest of the health-care community recognize and understand the nature of patients’ spiritual needs.

“I applaud the efforts of Brother Tom and Providence for offering a forum where spirituality, a tremendously vital component of care, will take centre stage.”

More information and registration for the conference are available from Perminder Sihota at Providence Health Care: 604-806-8528, e-mail: psihota@providencehealth.bc.ca.