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Full-Text Articles in Social Work
Relational Spirituality: An Opportunity For Social Work In Long-Term Care, Ann M. Callahan
Relational Spirituality: An Opportunity For Social Work In Long-Term Care, Ann M. Callahan
EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship
Aim
Sandage and Shults (2007) suggest that “all spirituality can be viewed as relational” (p. 263). Likewise, according to Heyse-Moore (1996), “we exist to relate to each other and if we do not our spirit dries up within us like a desert” (p. 307). Spirituality reflects our “innate human yearning for meaning through intra-, inter-, and transpersonal connectedness” (Belcher & Griffiths, 2005, p. 272). If spirituality is the experience of meaningful relationships, then it is important to understand what relationships are meaningful to clients. These relationships are particularly important in long-term care.
Background
Long-term care involves a network of relationships …
Recapturing The Power Of Ritual To Enhance Community In Aging, Holly Nelson-Becker, Kimberly Sangster
Recapturing The Power Of Ritual To Enhance Community In Aging, Holly Nelson-Becker, Kimberly Sangster
Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works
Ritual returns us to the center of who we are. In times of transition, loss, disconnection, and loneliness, ritual offers transformative power. It can provide a language for expression, stability, serve an integrating force in community, mediate tradition, and offer emotional support. This article explores the need for ritual in coping with late life changes, the relationship of ritual to suffering, value of ritual in storytelling and mourning, and explains the role of witness facilitated through community. Therapeutic functions of ritual are addressed and a framework for ritual design is suggested.