Although a commitment to spiritual care exists in the curriculum of the Royal College of GPs for GP training and in the General Medical Council’s Good Medical Practice, describing what spiritual care is, and how GPs should be trained in it, is quite problematic. Some light has been shed on this recently by two thoughtful […]
Listening is the first step to tackling hate!
During the last week in January I had the honour of working with three survivors at various holocaust memorial events in Edinburgh and Falkirk. The survivors were Janine Webber (Holocaust), Hasan Hasanovic (Srebenica) and Marie Jeanne Umutesi (Rwanda). These survivors had endured unimaginable suffering, had feared for their lives, and endured the killing of close […]
Making Connections
Faith in Older People together with the Church of Scotland Guild has been working with an ecumenical group to consider the responses from different denominations as to how they support people who are lonely and isolated in their wider community. It is a huge issue and very distressing for individuals who find themselves in this […]
Care homes and the care needs of frail older people
During the 1990s, the NHS closed the many long-stay ‘geriatric’ wards and gave the monies to social services in order for them to fund the care of frail older people in more ‘homely’ settings i.e. local residential and nursing homes. In early 2000, residential and nursing homes became known as care homes – care homes […]
We wish you a happy 2020
Sustaining our spirits will become increasingly important as we cope with changes and concerns. FiOP’s focus will continue to be on making spiritual care matter to us as individuals and for those for whom we care. We will continue to educate, to increase understanding, and to provide some practical tools for people to use. The […]
A Quaker perspective on dementia
A presentation at the ‘ONE STEP AT A TIME’ – Dementia and the Church Conference organised by Faith in Older People and the Church of Scotland Guild My name is Barbara Davey and I am a Quaker, a member of the Religious Society of Friends. I will tell you something of what Friends have been […]
Why rights and why now?
I’m delighted to be asked to write for FIOP about the importance of taking a human rights-based approach to policy development. Anyone who knows me, knows that this is by far one of my favourite subjects! But why write about rights, and why now? Well, firstly because there’s no wrong time for rights; you’d be […]
Why we need to ‘connect’ together to tackle isolation and loneliness and implement change
“Social Isolation and Loneliness can affect anyone – at all ages and stages of life. As our society changes, there is increasing recognition of social isolation and loneliness as a major public health issues that can have a significant impact on a person’s physical and mental wellbeing.” Christina McKelvie, Minister for Older People and Equalities […]
Hospitality
In the last couple of weeks, the importance of hospitality has been emphasised for me in different settings. The focus has been on the attention that the Abrahamic faiths place on welcoming strangers; showing compassion and embracing the ‘other’. The opening conversation in this year’s JUST Festival was focussed on an exhibition of paintings related […]
Just Take A Tablet …..
‘Too many older people are given antidepressants instead of therapy’ This headline for an article by Denis Campbell caught my eye in the Guardian of February 12th. The article drew on a review paper from Rachael Frost and others which had been published recently in the British Journal of General Practice. Their aim was to […]