Vitalité Health Network hosts the International Symposium for Research and Reflection on the Evolution of Spiritual Accompaniment in Health Care

Vitalité Health Network, Wednesday, October 2, 2024 - Vitalité Health Network, with help from the New Brunswick Spiritual Health Network, held an international research and reflection symposium on the theme “Evolution of Spiritual Accompaniment in Health Care in New Brunswick,” on September 26 and 27, 2024.

During these two days of presentations and virtual discussions, participants from hospitals, universities and the general public were able to exchange ideas and learn more about the various spiritual care needs existing today and their importance in the health care environment. The symposium highlighted the transformation underway toward more proactive delivery of health care to communities.

The event was part of the 2022-2025 Regional Health and Business Plan, which clearly states, "The Network wants to shift toward primary health care services with major emphasis on ambulatory and community care as well as on home care and services."

"We are very pleased to have organized, conducted and hosted such an event in our organization. It was an exceptional opportunity to experience these reflections and debates on spiritual care," explained Denis Belliveau, Regional Spiritual Care Coordinator for Vitalité Health Network.

Horizon Health Network's Certified Clinical Spiritual Care Worker, Denise Wilson-Sonderegger, highlighted some of the issues that spiritual care tries to address on a daily basis. Drawing on her experience, she explained, "It's obvious that spiritual accompaniment supports patients in times of illness and gives them a place to talk, listen and reflect. This allows them to readjust in the face of loss and bereavement or to confront their struggles around terminal or chronic illness and regain a sense of dignity that has sometimes been lost.”

For the past decade, Vitalité Health Network has formally integrated spiritual accompaniement as a service component to meet patients' needs. In so doing, it has adopted an international accompaniment practice that is developing and gaining prominence nationally and that increasingly involves interdisciplinarity and integrated teamwork.

Today, the Network has six spiritual care practitioners and a regional coordinator serving Vitalité Health Network’s four zones. Their contribution is crucial to patient care.