Faith in Diversity, Cultural Sensitivity and Spiritual Care

Venue: The Multi-Faith Centre, 47 St Helen’s Street, Ipswich, IP4 2JL

Aim of this course
To develop a deeper understanding of how our different cultures and religious traditions impact on care given and received.

Learning outcomes
To have gained a greater awareness of the diversity of society in East Anglia;
To be able to differentiate between religion, culture and spirituality;
To have established why religio-cultural competence is necessary for patient/client care;
To have recognised that everyone has a spiritual identity whether or not they are “religious”

People who would benefit from this course include
Those involved in caring roles, community safety officers, youth workers, faith leaders, pastoral assistants.

Methodology
This course will be grounded in participants’ contexts and draw on their experiences.  Basic information will be communicated mostly through interaction and dialogue.  Learners will be provided with a student pack, including 2 course handbooks, and will receive a certificate of attendance on completion of the course.  They may be able to achieve credits for work submitted.

1.       5^th September
9:30 to 11:30

The local scene and our individual contexts; recognising the diversity of faiths and cultures.  “The etiquette of encounter “- meeting, greeting, eating; signs, symbols and “sacred cows”.  Communication in a multi-faith society:  religious literacy - basic vocabulary.

(19^th September

SCC Conference on End of Life)

2.       3^rd October
9:30 to 11:30

“Diversity” – our dynamic learning tool/game enables participants to learn basic information about faiths practised in this country, to consider some of the challenges which we encounter in a multi-cultural society and to explore their own values and spirituality.

3.       17^th October
9:30 to 11:30

Part 1 - Professional standards and person-centred care; legislation relevant to anti-discriminatory practice; relevance of theory of social constructionism; relationship based practice.
Part 2- A Buddhist Perspective.

4.       7^th November
9:30 to 11:30

Spiritual care 1: religious spirituality and non-religious spirituality; what does spirituality mean to us? personal care and spiritual care; what does it mean to provide spiritual care? what does your organisation do to address spiritual needs? what about your spiritual care?

5.       21^st November
9:30 to 11:30

Spiritual care 2: recognising personal boundaries and the impact of our own beliefs on patient/client care; to understand the importance of applying good communications skills, especially active listening and empathy; to know when to refer on and to whom you can refer.

6.       5 December
9:30 to 12:00

Part 1 -Presentations by a panel with case studies, including mental health issues, classification and research, followed by a question and answer session.
Part 2 - “Staging Posts on the Journey of Life” - this game, also devised by us, presents topics for discussion and a wealth of readings and poetry from a range of sources, old and new, to enable participants to reflect on life’s stages and the expectations and experiences associated with them.

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