Spiritual Care Committee

Committee Report to Grampian NHS Board - Committee Meeting on 19 November 2015

Purpose of Report

This report updates the Grampian NHS Board on key issues arising from the Committee meeting on 19 November 2015which the Committee considers would be of interest to Board members.

Recommendation

The Board is asked to note the following key points:

1 Playlist for Life

The Committee received a presentation from Jude Scott, Person Centred Manager, and Kirsten Dickson, Clinical Quality Facilitator, on the Playlist for Life initiative.

Playlist for Life gives patients with dementia – and potentially many other patients – access to the music that has been meaningful in their lives on an iPod, which means it is available to them at any time of the day or night. Researchers have highlighted the potential for music to alleviate dementia symptoms such as anxiety and agitation, reducing the need for medication. Being able to respond to music – the first sense in the foetus and the last to go at the end of life – is important in being able to engage with people who may have lost the ability to communicate and interact with family and friends.The initiative also helps carers, relatives, friends, health professionals and volunteers.

It has been shown that if people with dementia are offered frequent access to the music in which their past experience and memories are embedded, it can:

  • Improve their present mood.
  • Improve their awareness.
  • Improve their ability to understand and think.
  • Help their sense of identity and independence.

Jude described how this initiative is being taken forward in Grampian and shared staff and patients stories to highlight its success. The Committee wasvery supportive of this work and was keen to see this developed further, across other client groups, and recognised its potential in community and home environments as well as in hospital.

2 Purple Bicycle initiative

Continuing the theme of initiatives to support people with dementia, the Committee watched a short film about the Purple Bicycle Project. This project provides a way of helping vulnerable people living within residential settings to find a sense of community, dignity and belonging and to have their spiritual needs recognised and met with thoughtfulness and compassion.

The project is a person-centred spiritual care resource developed by Professor John Swinton and Dr Harriet Mowat of Aberdeen Universityfrom research funded by the United Kingdom’s Arts and Humanities Research Council. It brings together caring practices that are often found individually within organisations that care for older people and presents these practices as a linked process and expression of care and concern for the spiritual lives of people with dementia.

The Committee recognised that many of the principles of this project are already being implemented in NHS Grampian but agreed that it was a valuable tool that had been developed locally and had great potential to be used across organisations and in multidisciplinary teams.

3 Daily hospital wide huddles

The Committee noted that the hospital chaplains regularly attend the hospital wide “huddle” in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, which is held every morning, with the aim of “making every day a safe day for patients and staff”. The huddle brings together key operational staff early every morning to share information and provide updates on the status of all aspects of the hospital. The Committee noted the value of chaplains attending, to be able to provide support to areas or staff under pressure and to raise awareness of their role and the support they can offer to patients.

Rhona Atkinson

Chair

Spiritual Care Committee

November 2015