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Document No 75
2004 Page last updated:
28 July, 2005
East Kent NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust
Chaplaincy Services:
Religious and Spiritual Care in a Mental Health Context
Introduction
Meeting the varied spiritual needs of patients, staff and visitors is fundamental to the care the NHS provides. (DOH Chaplaincy Guidance 04/11/03) All NHS Trusts provide spiritual support through chaplaincy departments and faith community representatives. The purpose of this document is to set out a broad framework by which the trust can develop an action plan for spiritual health care in both hospital and community settings.
Basic provision:
Religious ‘respect' for all service users.
Referrals from staff and service users regarding spiritual questions.
Enabling religious practice as required by service users.
Cultural responsibilities of the Trust as they relate to faith communities.
Pastoral care:
Enabling support for service users and staff at times of personal stress.
Making contact with existing networks of support as requested by service users.
Therapeutic provision:
Listening services especially in relation to social, cognitive and affective support.
Individual and group work on spirituality and spiritual support.
Participation in therapeutic work as part of a multi-disciplinary team.
Educational provision:
Specialist knowledge of spirituality and religious psycho/social dynamics.
Understanding ethical, doctrinal, ritual and social practice in relation to healthcare.
Participation in training and induction programmes.
Community Provision:
Comprehensive links with religious organisations in the community.
Working with community based teams to identify and encourage use of church resources.
Inclusion of spiritual issues into the Care Plan Approach encouraging choice and access.
Networking through user friendly churches to promote well-informed inclusive resources.
Mental health awareness and education programmes in the religious communities.
Working with religion and addressing diversity:
Religions engage the individual, familial, community and universal levels of relating. Religion is primarily concerned with the handling of meaning, value, hope and purpose in life. Whilst other systems and philosophies handle these prime colours or dimensions of human experience, religions subject their acquired faith to a higher or ultimate subject. The nature or image of that subject, whether projected or reflected, is at the heart of religious faith and often, a person's response to life events. Respect for culture may be indivisible from respect for religion, a connection chaplaincy must address. Not withstanding, cultural diversity is strongly represented in religious life, making particular demands on chaplaincy resources. Religious communication freely uses symbol, narrative, metaphor and analogue. Most religions manage to cope creatively with internal diversity and varieties of communication, however it is common to have sub groups who reject other approaches as legitimate. Modern chaplaincy works ecumenically and is inter-faith orientated, its prevailing culture and philosophy is predominantly humanistic.
Working to promote spirituality in a mental health context:
The social, physical, emotional and mental aspects of human life are interdependent to spirituality. Spirituality is the drive and consequent action towards a person's integration and nurture. It is power for our given nature, spirit or self. Being in harmony with the environment, the quality of important relationships including the sacred, a positive sense of self and the experience of all things creative, these are the common domains of spirituality. People look here expectantly for the generation of positive mental health whether their spirituality is religiously based, secular or a combination of the two.
Connecting with and drawing on resources of faith:
Faith is both the confidence and the content individuals and communities possess, that enables them to draw from diverse resources and concretise into a vocation, story or sense of purpose. Faith is usually defined in dynamic terms, making sense of, and making a difference for the self and for the community. A discrete faith will draw on its reflective scripture, community traditions and rational frameworks. It will have a critical system of responding to social evolution. From a healthcare perspective, faith that is life enhancing will involve a unique status for the individual as well as mutuality in community. Faith that is able both to differentiate to empower and also to be generously inclusive, is what is asked of those who work in and support chaplaincy. Being ourselves subjects of faith, even at the most general level, we propose that faith defines humanity as well as humanity defines faith. Our purpose is to help individuals connect with their roots of faith, whereby the outcome will be the enhancement of their humanity and their spirit for life.
The Chaplaincy Team:
Lead chaplain: Peter Richmond Chaplains P/T : Peter Plant (Thanet) Richard Podger (Ashford) David Stedman (C'bury)
Chaplaincy Volunteers : Our team of volunteers is essential for good chaplaincy provision. We have a number of Christian denominations represented. We need more volunteers from all religious or spiritual traditions. Volunteers fulfill a variety of roles to suit their gifts.
Visiting Clergy : Clergy may use the chaplaincy to facilitate their ministry.
Supporting Individuals : Chaplaincy needs support. We need people who take an interest in what we do, people from all the constituent groups as points of reference. Whether service users, professionals, clergy in the community, people with a concern for religious and spiritual matters in relation to mental health; we need you to be our ‘critical friends'.
Contacts
Chaplaincy St Martin's Hospital Littlebourne Road Canterbury Kent CT1 1TD
Email Peter.Richmond@ekentmht.nhs.uk
01227 812021 chaplains office + ansaphone
01227 812047 St Martin's admin office (mon/fri 9/5)
07989 155752 mobile (Lead chaplain's own no.)
Chapel Services at St Martin's Hospital
Sundays at 3.30 pm following Anglican or Free Church patterns
Wednesdays at 2.30 pm following Roman Catholic patterns
You are welcome to attend any of our services and to participate as may be helpful to you
The chapel is open daily and is a quiet environment.
In Conclusion
• Any religious tradition can be contacted via the chaplaincy team
• Spiritual healthcare is an inclusive service for all and for any
• We aim to think widely, feel creatively, believe otherly, live hopefully
Peter Richmond 11 03 04
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