Finalists for pastoral and spiritual care awards announced

The 2016 Meaningful Ageing Australia Awards celebrate organisations who can demonstrate a sustained and effective program or project, focused on high quality pastoral and spiritual care of older people.

Meaningful Ageing Australia CEO, Ilsa Hampton, says the quality of the applicants for this year’s awards was outstanding.

“The judges carefully assessed each application to ensure they can demonstrate the effectiveness and sustainability of their pastoral or spiritual care offering.”

The six finalists are:

• Bethanie (WA) for the program which addresses the stress of transition into residential aged care directly and has aged care chaplains meeting with all new residents prior to, and after, moving in.
• Carrington (NSW) for its reminiscence program where senior students are coached in getting alongside residents to listen to their life stories over a 3 month period, creating a memento of the older person’s life.
• Villa Maria (Catholic Healthcare, NSW) for offering more sensitive, inclusive and spiritually supportive services for people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
• IRT Kangara Waters (NSW) for igniting a volunteer pastoral care transport service with pastoral carers offering a positive, caring and calming presence to residents who need to access medical appointments.
• Peninsula Villages (NSW) for their Celebration of Life Services which change the way the organisation acknowledge resident deaths.
• Salvation Army Aged Care Plus (NSW/ACT) for implementing a spiritual assessment and care planning approach for people living with a mental illness, complex care needs and substance abuse, leading to deeper connectivity and relationships between residents and staff.

“These finalists provide a shining light to others in the sector who are tempted to say effective pastoral and spiritual care is too expensive or difficult to implement,” Ms Hampton says.

“Having just launched the National Guidelines for Spiritual Care in Aged Care, the time is perfect for these awards.”

Winners of the 2016 Meaningful Ageing Australia Awards will be announced at the Awards Event in Newcastle on 21 October 2016.

Find out more about the Meaningful Ageing Australia Awards Program on the Meaningful Ageing Australia website.