Faith and worship practices in care homes – your experiences are needed

Marion Shoard, writer, speaker and advocate for ageing well has been in touch with a request for contact from the Anna Chaplaincy network. This is in preparation for the Christians on Ageing conference in September when Marion will give a talk about the access of faith communities into care homes and the freedom to offer faith-based activities there. We encourage anyone interested in this area to read more about Marion’s work on her website and to get in touch with her – her email address is included in her letter, shared below.

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Hello

I’ve been writing and giving talks about older people’s issues for nearly 20 years and have corresponded with many of you, after Debbie Thrower kindly circulated information about my latest book, How to Handle Later Life, in a blog in January 2021. (If any perhaps newly-commissioned Anna Chaplains or Anna Friends, would like a free copy of that book, do get in touch as outlined in that blog, though please note that my address has changed to PO Box 195, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 9EF.)

I’m currently preparing a paper to give at the annual conference of Christians on Ageing in Sheffield in September. Within my paper, I’m keen to explore ways in which older and disabled people living in care homes could enjoy greater access to support from faith groups.

Whether care homes permit Christian acts of worship rests with the home’s manager and while some permit as many church services as are offered, others are less encouraging and may fail to provide a quiet space in which they can take place so interruptions may occur. In other words, I’m looking at the conditions in which acts of worship are provided, in the hope of building up a picture of the range of good and not-so-good practices on the ground. (I’m not examining the content church groups choose for services.)

As Covid-19 is likely to be present in our lives for many years to come, I’d also like to gather information about the extent to which homes have permitted acts of worship during Covid-prompted restrictions on access to visitors since March 2020, perhaps allowing them to take place outdoors or via video link.

If you’ve had any experience of these matters, I wonder whether you would be kind enough to talk to me over the phone sometime. If so, please drop me a line at marion@marionshoard.co.uk so we can arrange a time. I would not use your name or any other names such as of care homes or places within my talk unless you were happy for me to do so.

With best wishes

Marion Shoard