Marymount University Hospital & Hospice
Pastoral Care
When you are living with a life-limiting illness, it is not just your body that is affected. Illness affects the whole person, including your emotional and spiritual life. Family and friends may also feel helpless in the face of illness. Pastoral care, sometimes called ‘spiritual care,’ is about accompanying, listening with compassion and helping to create a space which recognises the spiritual and emotional needs of our patients, their families and those closest to them. The Pastoral Care Team offers time and space to you and your family/loved ones who may wish to have support in exploring spiritual concerns.
Is pastoral care the same as religious care?
No. Although it may include religious care, pastoral care encompasses a broader approach to spiritual needs. Many people question their religious beliefs in times of distress. Some find comfort in the rites of their faith. There are also those who do not believe in God but experience themselves as spiritual. For example, they feel that beauty, nature, intimacy, literature or the arts touch them in a spiritual way. Perhaps there is a belief in ‘something greater.’ Whether you are religious or not, when faced with advancing illness you can experience spiritual and emotional unease. It can be a relief to share your feelings with someone who is not in your immediate circle of family or friends. It may be important to ask, ‘who am I now?’ The Pastoral Care Team can listen and explore these elements with you through listening, creative process, prayer and ritual.
What Services Are Available?
The Pastoral Care Team provides a range of services to support you and your loved ones during your time in the care of Marymount –both as an inpatient and in the community.
These include:
- A listening ear
- Le Chéile spiritual wellbeing group
- Prayer/ reflection/ meditation
- Spiritual support and ritual (non-religious)
- Sacramental care for Roman Catholic patients: the Anointing of the Sick, Reconciliation
- Sacramental care for other Christian denominations is available on request
- Mass, other liturgies in the chapel and Holy Communion (Wednesday and Sunday 11.30am)
- Religious rituals appropriate to your faith/ belief
- Support in facilitating care from the religious traditions
- Creative soul work
- Life review and reflection
- Grief and loss support
For further information, please contact:
Dr Anne Francis, Pastoral Care Lead,
Telephone: 021-486-9145