Spiritual health practitioners offer care to both patients and staff at these B.C. hospitals

Lives can be forever changed in emergency rooms and a new pilot project at three B.C. hospitals aims to help patients, families and staff dealwith the emotional falloutof those changes.

Spiritual health practitioners offer holisticcarein theemergency departments at Langley Memorial, Surrey Memorial and Abbotsford Regional Hospital.

Theyare not affiliated with any religious faith. The work they do varies andcan include navigating end-of-life care, liaising with spiritual, religious or cultural groups, and being an empathetic sounding board for people.

While spiritual health practitioners are already working in health-care settings across the province, this is the first time Fraser Health has provided the service in emergency rooms.

"ER departments are facing severe pressureacross not just B.C. but the countryand, from my understanding, Fraser Health was really interested in finding ways to add support," said Caitlin Kennedy, senior coordinator,quality improvementat Fraser Health.

The health region's emergency rooms were much scrutinized this spring.

Physicians at Surrey Memorial sent an open letterto Fraser Health CEO Victoria Lee and the province in May calling on health-care leaders to fill vacant positions in the emergency room or shut down the department to new patients.

While spiritual health practitioners like Surrey Memorial's Don Cowiecannot alleviate the workload of physicians, they can help easesome of their stress.

Not only is he available topatients who need him, Cowie offers his services to staff as well.

"Everybody is so stretched," said Cowie. "We are kind of there without any agendaother than just supporting 100 per cent."

According to Kennedy, Cowie and his colleagues have extended their services to physicians, nurses, housekeeping staff and unit clerks as well as first responders who come through the emergency doors.

She said the feedback from ER staff was that the"compassion and wisdom" shown by spiritual healthpractitioners left a permanent positive imprint.

"It made them feel heard," said Kennedy.

Spiritual health practitioners are recognized by the province as an integral part of care teams, according to B.C.'s Ministry of Health.They are not regulated under the Health Professions Act, but mustreceive training fromthe Canadian Association for Spiritual Care to practise in British Columbia.

WATCH| Don Cowie, spiritual health practitioner, on the importance ofcompassionate care:

Can spiritual care help reduce stress at busy hospitals?

11 months ago

Duration 2:09

Emergency departments in Abbotsford, Langley and Surrey, B.C., are experimenting with providing spiritual health practitioners to patients.

"Supporting people is actually very easy. People just need a conversation, they just need to be asked how they're doing and supported," said Cowie.

A moment that sticks out for him included comforting two patients who were positioned next to each other in emergency and were both dying. Thenurse overseeing those patientswas new to the job and had never experienced a loss at work before. Cowie comforted her too.

He also recently sat with a man who was faced with the challenge of calling his mom who could not be at the hospital while her husband, the man's father, was passing away.

"It's really about seeing the whole person for who they are and listening and being present and understanding where people are coming from on an emotional, spiritual, cultural level," said Cowie."It's a great privilege."

A spokesperson for Fraser Health says there is no end date for the pilot project and that pilots often evolve into ongoing programs.