| Ever since the inception of the NHS, hospital authorities have attempted to 'provide' for the spiritual needs of patients and staff. |
Professors Abdul Rashid Gatrad and Aziz Sheikh of the MCB Research and Documentation committee recently published an article on multifaith chaplaincy in Archives of Diseases in Childhood, a leading medical journal. It explores whether the spiritual needs of non-Christian patients are being adequately met at the time when most needed; that is, when they are ill in hospital.
Here is a short excerpt with a link to the complete article.
Developing multi-faith chaplaincy: For spirit's sake
To be human one has a spirit, that this spirit is named and nurtured in multiple ways around the globe does not detract from the fact that it exists at the core of each and every being. So how, in modern day medical practice is this essential aspect of health catered for, for the children and their families of non- Christian faiths?
.The broken are often the bereaved, the sick and the lonely. This is particularly so for those from cultures different from those in the West. Happiness is often heightened and tragedy lightened when shared with the family It is in the understanding and meeting the needs of such people that spiritual 'doctors' come into their own whatever their faith ,whatever their background. |
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