'The principles of Palliative Care are framed around holistic care and the interdependent physical, social, emotional, cultural and spiritual aspects of care' from the Palliative Care Australia website. [1]
Pastoral care is the care and support of the inner person. It is not necessarily about formal religion. Pastoral care respects and supports a person’s particular belief systems and practices. It is holistic and peson centred.
The provision of pastoral care services in residential aged care (RAC) depends on the facility. Some services employ chaplains or pastoral care workers and some do not.
People with formal training in pastoral care have skills that enable them to discuss religious matters and provide support to all people with spiritual and emotional needs. Pastoral care workers may use empathy, listening, reminiscence, or simply being with residents to become engaged and assist them to live well.
Pastoral care initiatives
Meaningful Ageing Australia has developed resources to help aged care providers in meeting a person's spiritual needs in line with the Aged Care Quality and Safety Standards.
Meaningful ageing Australia is a national organisation that aims to promote the spiritual and pastoral care of older Australians. They worked with Spiritual Health Victoria (SHV) and the National Ageing Research Institute to develop National Guidelines for Spiritual Care for Aged Care.
Page updated 05 August 2019