My first Magazine St Joseph's Home_40th Anniversary magazine.compres | Page 31

3 Spiritual care
4 Social care
WHAT IS IT: We are made to be social so spending
our days alone is unusually bad for the mind, body
and soul and research has shown it can even lead
to earlier deaths. But someone with 100 friends can
still feel lonelier than the person with just 2 friends
but deep friendships. It’s not about the number, but
the quality of the relationships and how the person
perceives them.
WHY IT MATTERS: A support network is crucial to a
person’s health. Someone without friends or family
to dine with could end up eating bread or plain
porridge with soya sauce at every meal, leading
to malnutrition not to mention other conditions
like depression. The real reason for someone
WHAT IS IT: Most care revolves around this - specialist clinics,
acting out or having problems with their
GPs, hospitals and nursing homes zoom zoom in first on the
medication? Possibly more likely the
physical body parts, making every effort to keep them in tip top
lack of good support than early
shape. Usually that involves a pill, a procedure or a surgery to
stage dementia.
make things right again. But the illness or injury may only be a
5 Physical care
symptom of something deeper…
WHY IT MATTERS: The psychological state of a person affects
their reactions to things or events and influences behaviour
intentionally or otherwise. Caring about how people make
sense of their world can help one understand the context
behind some of the seemingly inexplicable things people may
say or do.
In reality, discussing the need for different types of care is
easier than actually providing it. For care to really resonate
with the recipient requires that one goes the extra mile. It
could mean anticipating the person’s needs or going out
of your way to fulfil a birthday wish articulated months ago
and forgotten. At St Joseph’s Home, we strive to practise this
in ways big and small, knowing this is what will make the
difference in someone else’s life. StJ
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