Spiritual care offers more than religion

Pastoral and Spiritual Care at Juniper can be many different things to many different people.

Juniper’s Manager Pastoral and Spiritual Care David van Leen described spiritual care as supporting others in finding a sense of purpose, meaning, hope and peace.

From 19 to 25 October, Spiritual Care Week offers an opportunity to gain an insight into the invaluable role of spiritual carers.

Across Juniper, spiritual care supports Juniper customers and staff with an approach that meets their own individual needs.

“It’s more than religion, spiritual care is for everyone,” David said.

“We help people journey through life’s ups and downs by supporting them with connections to nature, creativity, relationships, or something greater.”

Juniper has 15 chaplains and a team of pastoral care volunteers at its residential aged care sites across the metropolitan area and in Northam, Geraldton and Albany.

The team can help individuals and groups in areas such as dementia-specific support, chapel services, compassionate end-of-life support and grief support.

From finding ways for residents to make their own spiritual connections such as pursuing a love of painting or reconnecting with a family member after being apart for many years, the type of support provided varies greatly.

“It’s about trying to understand a person’s life and where they are at now, like a move to aged care and the resident questions what’s their legacy or what do they have to live for – finding that purpose is very important to their whole wellbeing,” David said.

A chaplain for more than 25 years, David joined Juniper in 2024 and said while consoling people through times of grief was emotional, the rewards in his role far outweighed the challenges.

“It is much more rewarding than challenging, and I think the need for spiritual care is definitely increasing – more people are seeking it out,” David said.

On one occasion when a resident was unable to venture outside independently, but always found solace in their connection to nature, the spiritual care team found a way to make it happen.

“We just thought, how do we get them outside amongst their love of nature and how do we get the bed out, and we could do that,” David said.

To summarise Juniper’s spiritual care service, it’s the comfort, the support and the listening ear offered to customers, families and staff when they need it, regardless of their cultural background or beliefs.

Pictured above is Juniper’s chaplaincy team