Delivering whole-person-centred care through an understanding of faith

Meaningful Ageing Australia has launched a new resource to assist the aged care workforce better deliver whole-person-centred care.

The Multifaith Practices resource is an Australian edition of a Canadian publication called Multi-faith Practices: Guidelines for Caregivers which was published in 2014 by the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging. The Meaningful Ageing edition has revised and updated the original for both Australian and aged care contexts. Input was given by key representative from six religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism, which the resource will cover.

Each chapter provides some knowledge and insight into specific aspects of the religion such as: beliefs and values, sacred texts; holy days, holidays, and ritual observances; late life celebrations; caring practices during illness; end of life practices; and readings and prayers.

“If we are truly committed to helping people to live and die well this means understanding each person in a way that honours who they have been, who they are now and who they are becoming. Lists of statistics on their own will not help us with this, but it can be useful to see the amazing mix of backgrounds brought by both the workforce and the older people they are supporting," says Ilsa Hampton, CEO of Meaningful Ageing Australia.

Aged Care Insite spoke with Hampton to hear more about the resource and the importance increasing the awareness and knowledge of the different backgrounds from which aged care recipients come.

The guide is now available free to Meaningful Ageing members in either a printed or electronic copy. The guide will be available to buy for $20 by non-members in October 2021.

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