Touch Me Please
I work as a chaplain in a geriatric psychiatry acute care hospital where I have contact with many vulnerable and marginalized patients. They struggle with illnesses such as dementia, Alzheimer’s, depression, anxiety, bipolar, and schizophrenia, as well as a variety of other physical ailments. The commonality for all patients is that they require higher levels of acute psychiatric care than they can receive elsewhere, and they are generally over the age of sixty.

Geriatrics and mental health are hot topics in health care, and as the political world continues to poke and prod at Canada’s health care system, I believe churches need to lead the way in intentionally ministering to these often overlooked populations.

This is the passion that drives my work in chaplaincy, and it is why I am contributing to this blog. Together I would like to ponder the question of “How do we provide spiritual care for people whose healthcare needs are complex and who are not sitting in our pews or contributing to our programs? “

Let me start by telling you about one of the highlights of my week. During our weekly chapel service we will frequently “share the peace” with one another. (Sharing the peace involves taking time during the service to have everyone shake each others’ hands and say “peace be with you” – a practice more commonly found in some liturgical traditions). I don’t come from a background where sharing the peace is common, but it has become one of my favourite things to do. Because it means that I can touch people. I can hold aged and weathered hands, look into a patient’s eyes, call them by name, and prayerfully say those powerful words of “peace be with you.” I feel something incredibly sacred when I hold the hand of a patient who is afraid to let go. When a patient is unable to talk but gently raises my hand to give it a kiss.

I am touching people who often receive minimal touch – they receive touch through nursing care or in stopping aggressive behaviours, but much less frequently do they receive the touch that communicates that they have value and are loved.

Touch is a beautiful thing. It is something that is easily taken for granted when you are in a relationship, when you’ve got kids clambering all over you, and when you’ve got friends who give you hugs. It takes on a very different meaning when you’ve lost everyone you’ve ever loved, when you are surrounded by strangers, and when both your outer and inner worlds are strange and unfamiliar to you.

I am pretty sure there are huge spiritual implications to providing appropriate touch. Just as I’m pretty sure that touch can be dangerous when you don’t take into account timing, gender dynamics, boundaries, and how your touch may be interpreted. I’m pretty sure Jesus touched people.

So, when I think of the question of how to provide spiritual care in a healthcare context, I think first of the value and power of touch.

Jessica Baker is a chaplain with Covenant Health in Edmonton, Alberta. She’s an endorsed chaplain through Vision Ministries Canada and a soon to be certified Specialist in Spiritual Care with the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care. She’s passionate about the intersection of spirituality, mental health and trauma care.