Angela, 78, lives in Freiston with her husband. When she was diagnosed with liver cancer, she describes feeling “shocked and upset.” Now, she says the spiritual care and support she’s receiving from St Barnabas Hospice has been “brilliant.”
Spiritual Care Champions offer spiritual support alongside the care they would usually provide, creating a safe space for patients to explore what brings them strength, comfort, and peace.
They can help patients identify worries and anxieties, find peace in prayer or meditation, discover what brings them comfort, and offer a place of honesty to explore any difficult feelings – and much more.
Sonya, a Health and Rehabilitation Support Worker, supports Angela as part of the Hospice at Home team and is also able to provide additional support as a Spiritual Care Champion.
Angela says: “The support means a lot. It’s being able to offload what’s bothering me – sometimes it’s medical, sometimes it’s spiritual. It’s knowing that there’s somebody there that I could contact if I need them, and they’ve just been wonderful, amazing.
“It’s like coming out of the wilderness and into a safe place, into my own home. Sonya is kind and so thoughtful.”
Sonya says: “As a spiritual champion, I’m there to listen, to support, and to help and guide her with whatever she needs. If I can make that one person feel a tiny bit better, I’ve done my job. And in this role, I feel I am able to do that.”
The care and support provided at St Barnabas aims to help patients live as well as possible and achieve the things that are important to them.
Mandy Irons, Head of Wellbeing, explains: “The illness doesn’t just happen to the person, it happens to the whole of the family. It affects more than you physically – it affects your mental, emotional, financial and social wellbeing. Our services are based across those pillars of wellbeing.”
The Wellbeing Team at St Barnabas works closely with clinical colleagues to ensure that the care and support delivered is the best it can possibly be and is tailored to each individual.
Mandy continues: “You absolutely need to know that the clinical team are there to support you, but we are also there to hold the rest of you. We wrap ourselves around you and your family, with our clinical colleagues, so that you’re able to navigate this time with dignity and find some peace.”
“It’s incredibly important and we’re really privileged. Our clinical colleagues do a fantastic job every day. They provide that emotional and psychological support – what we’re there to do is add that next layer.”
She adds: “Spiritual care is open to all faiths and none. It’s really based around finding peace and hope. We have a range of spiritual care volunteers and champions who work at our Inpatient Unit, Hospice in the Hospital, and within the clinical teams – so they can support people whenever they need it.”
Recommending spiritual care to others, Sonya adds: “Give it a go! I think sometimes people get the wrong impression of it. It can be about spirituality, but it doesn’t have to be. It can be whatever that person wants it to be about.”
St Barnabas can only provide this service with your support.
By way of example, a donation of £85 could pay for a two-hour community visit – bringing comfort and peace directly to a patient’s home.
Discover more about St Barnabas’ Wellbeing Services: Wellbeing Services – St Barnabas Hospice
Donate to St Barnabas: Make a Donation to St Barnabas Hospice