‘Frailty’ and Spiritual Care: A Short Guide supports aged care staff to begin to include spiritual care when working with older people who are experiencing frailty. It enables flexible delivery including self-reflection, or facilitated processes for team members to extend their understanding and spark each other’s imagination.

Developed at the request of our members, we have created a practical short guide to encourage your creativity and teamwork around responding to the spiritual needs of someone who no longer able to get ‘out and about’ in the way they used to. Using many familiar principles, the Guide encourages you to draw on your experience in engaging with older people about what matters most to them.

The Guide was developed primarily by Jessica Sanders as part of a Masters in Social Work. She completed a scan of the literature and engaged with older people who reflected on their experience of frailty: May, Dennis, Margaret, John, Helen and Rosa.

Thanks also to
Aurrum Aged Care, Baptcare, Brightwater, Churches of Christ Care QLD, Multicultural Services Centre of Western Australia, Nurse Watch, Tanunda Lutheran Home, The Salvation Army Aged Care Plus and Uniting AgeWell for their input
– Meaningful Ageing Australia Research Consultants Bruce Stevens, Bruce Rumbold, John Swinton, and Richard Egan; and also to Elizabeth MacKinlay
– Meaningful Ageing CEO Ilsa Hampton and NARI Director Briony Dow for their input and support.

It is recommended that team members complete at a minimum an orientation to spiritual care before engaging with this resource.

For our members only.