Spiritual health practitioners offer care to both patients and staff at these B.C. hospitals
CBC
Lives can be forever changed in emergency rooms and a new pilot project at three B.C. hospitals aims to help patients, families and staff deal with the emotional fallout of those changes.
Spiritual health practitioners offer holistic care in the emergency departments at Langley Memorial, Surrey Memorial and Abbotsford Regional Hospital.
They are not affiliated with any religious faith. The work they do varies and can include navigating end-of-life care, liaising with spiritual, religious or cultural groups, and being an empathetic sounding board for people.
While spiritual health practitioners are already working in health-care settings across the province, this is the first time Fraser Health has provided the service in emergency rooms.
"ER departments are facing severe pressure across not just B.C. but the country and, from my understanding, Fraser Health was really interested in finding ways to add support," said Caitlin Kennedy, senior coordinator, quality improvement at Fraser Health.
The health region's emergency rooms were much scrutinized this spring.
Physicians at Surrey Memorial sent an open letter to Fraser Health CEO Victoria Lee and the province in May calling on health-care leaders to fill vacant positions in the emergency room or shut down the department to new patients.
While spiritual health practitioners like Surrey Memorial's Don Cowie cannot alleviate the workload of physicians, they can help ease some of their stress.
Not only is he available to patients who need him, Cowie offers his services to staff as well.
"Everybody is so stretched," said Cowie. "We are kind of there without any agenda other than just supporting 100 per cent."
According to Kennedy, Cowie and his colleagues have extended their services to physicians, nurses, housekeeping staff and unit clerks as well as first responders who come through the emergency doors.
She said the feedback from ER staff was that the "compassion and wisdom" shown by spiritual health practitioners left a permanent positive imprint.
"It made them feel heard," said Kennedy.
Spiritual health practitioners are recognized by B.C.'s health ministry as an integral part of care, according to Fraser Health's website. They must receive training from the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care to practise in the province.