WesleyCare's chaplaincy service offers support and reassurance to provide for residents’ wellbeing. Residents benefit from the spiritual care and empathy of chaplain Rev. Natasha Glenderran, who leads chapel services, offers conversation and provides plenty of hand-holding.
Improvement in residents’ wellbeing can be difficult to see but when it happens, it can be both “mind-blowing and heart-blowing,” Rev. Natasha Glenderran says.
Natasha recalls a resident with advanced dementia who rarely moved. When she presented the resident with a communion wafer on a teaspoon, he took the wafer and put it in his mouth himself, doing the same with the communion juice a moment later. “In that moment, everything fired correctly. When we sing this resident’s favourite hymn, he joins in.”
When a resident’s health is declining, Natasha offers comfort and reassurance. Some residents benefit from conversation or laughter, while others may enjoy simply listening to her speak. Natasha may also pray with residents in their final hours, offering thanks for the life of the resident or simply reassure them that what is happening is ok. For those without religious faith, Natasha may speak about things that touch them deeply.
WesleyCare provides bi-weekly chapel services. Residents for whom regular church attendance is important benefit from prayer and the familiarity of church services that offer comfort, security and hope. Residents of other faiths and of no faith also often attend. Other ministers come in from time to time to lead the service or to play the piano.