Meaningful Ageing Seminar: Bendigo Vic

Spiritual Care in a Diverse World
Part 1. Introduction to spirituality and contemporary spiritual care in aged care

Appropriate for those who have direct contact with older people, leaders and managers.

The recently published National Guidelines for Spiritual Care in Aged Care state that spiritual care is everyone’s business. Spirituality is intrinsic to being human, and spiritual needs may arise at any time. While chaplains, pastoral carers and spiritual care practitioners have a distinct role in the provision of skilled spiritual care, every person in contact with older people needs to have a basic awareness of spirituality and how it affects their role.

This session will engage participants in a process of developing and deepening understandings of spirituality and spiritual care. It will support the development of confidence in providing basic spiritual care, and discerning when to refer to a skilled practitioner.

During the session, participants will engage in:

Understandings of spirituality and spiritual care

Reflection on real life stories

An exploration of your values and what’s important to you

Implications for practice in aged care

Practical ideas to implement in your organisation

Opportunity to network with others

Part 2. Acknowledging diversity (ours and others’)

In providing spiritual care, we need to develop self-awareness. We can become aware of our values, beliefs, preferences, interests and ways of being. When we know ourselves, we can easily see where we share values and beliefs with others, and where our values and beliefs differ. We come to see that our values are born of our particular cultural, familial, relational, and religious experiences and are not ‘right or wrong’ but simply different. We can carry an attitude of openness to different human experiences, and celebrate those differences for the richness and complexity that they offer.

The session will explore diversity in terms of:

Culture
Religion/faith
Sexuality/gender

This event is proudly Supported by Prime Super