Highlighting those who help us connect with ourselves and find peace during Spiritual Health Awareness Week
During Spiritual Health Awareness Week, October 22–29, we recognize the Spiritual Health team at HSC Winnipeg (L to R): Kurt Schwarz, Daniel Barclay, Don Collerman-Elias, Lorelie Nolasco, Amy Teakle, Jared Redekop, Gord Johnson, Doug Koop, Valerie Laurie, and Taras Kowch
After she lost her newborn baby, Rebecca Saros*, who had been admitted to PsycHealth at HSC, was tormented with guilt and pain. The traumatic loss of her child was the only thing she could think of, and it left her rocking back and forth in her room for days on end.
Gord Johnson, a spiritual health practitioner of over 12 years who often works with patients admitted to PsycHealth, sat down with Saros, and began reciting prayers that he knew would be meaningful for her. The words had an almost immediate impact, and Saros was responsive and reacting to the world around her, something she hadn’t done since being admitted.
“A psychiatric doctor later told me that the prayers of lament change the focus of one’s grief, lamenting rather than perseverating. What I was reciting registered in a different part of the brain than the grief she was going through,” says Johnson. “Hearing the prayers she was familiar with helped her understand her grief in a different way.”
Spiritual Health at HSC Winnipeg varies from patient to patient, encompassing a multitude of meanings and practices. Spiritual health can mean following a religion or cultural practice, it can be spending time with loved ones or out in nature, and it can even be watching your favourite sports team on tv.
With such diverse interpretations of spiritual health, it’s crucial to have spiritual health practitioners like Johnson, who help ensure all patients’ spiritual health needs are met.
“People come to HSC, and their world is turned upside down. They look for an anchor to help them find a sense of hopeful perspective, as finding hope is curative in their lives,” says Johnson.
Putting patients first is one of the guiding principles of the Spiritual Health team. Whenever possible within their purview, if a patient or their loved one wants something, one of the spiritual health practitioners will provide it. Whether that’s a wedding during a patient’s final days of life, a ceremony for a sick patient or relative, or a baptism for a sick or deceased newborn, the Spiritual Health team will help patients and their loved ones find meaning, purpose, and hope during their time at HSC.
While Spiritual Health services can be performed at a patient’s bedside, when possible, there are also several sanctuaries throughout the HSC campus that are designed to provide comfort and space for people of all faiths.
The main Spiritual Health sanctuary at HSC Winnipeg, is located outside of the 2nd floor cafeteria. The maze pattern on the floor is designed to allow patients to walk its path slowly, be there in the moment, and reflect on what is troubling them.
“I see it all the time in my work. A patient asks for a religious artifact, and the moment you hand it to them, you can see their stress levels drop. It’s a cold drink of water in a hot desert, and the patients appear to be comforted,” says Johnson.
Your support can help patients at HSC get the spiritual health care they need. By donating to the HSC Patient Comforts Fund, you can help fund the development of grief support materials; purchase supplies for the scattering of ashes ceremony; maintain sanctuary spaces; purchase faith-based comfort items; and buy supplies for rituals, such as for a loss, wedding, or celebration. Your support will bring meaning, purpose, and hope to patients and their loved ones when they need it the most.
To donate, please visit our donation page and select HSC Patient Comforts Fund from the designation list, or call 204-515-5612 or 1-800-679-8493 (toll-free).
*Name changed for confidentiality
-By Andrew Lysack
