Spiritual Care team

Caroline (Ann) Nelson, Craig Traynor, Nancy Cullen, Paul Vanderham

At the Edmonton General Continuing Care Centre, the Spiritual Care team plays an important role in welcoming people who may otherwise feel excluded by creating a space that honours every individual’s belief, values, culture and life experiences. They recognize not everyone connects to traditional religion and instead focus on meeting people where they are whether they identify as spiritual, religious, questioning or none of the above.

The Spiritual Care team engaged stakeholders to develop a sacred space specifically designed to appropriately meet Indigenous residents’ care needs. Under the guidance of Indigenous leaders, the team met with Indigenous residents and staff members to ask what they needed in this space and they brought this input forward to incorporate into the development plan.

To ensure residents are part of their own care and remain contributing members of society, the team offers a pen pal program. In this program residents become pen pals with children from a local elementary school and they write letters to each other monthly. Residents benefit from this program by reminiscing, reflecting, storytelling and finding a companion in a young child.

The Spiritual Care team promotes empathy and encourages people to consider another viewpoint when interacting with someone who is different. They speak out against ageism and advocate for respect and dignity for the elderly population they provide care for and who very often are mistreated, forgotten, excluded or overlooked.