At Nazareth Home, we have an excellent pastoral care team that puts their whole heart into the care and love they provide to the elders at our campuses. We are excited to celebrate Pastoral Care Week and all our team does for the elders that live at our campuses.

Our pastoral care team at Nazareth Home believes in a person-centered care approach where we learn about the elders’ history, values, likes and dislikes. This type of care allows the team and nursing staff to have a three-dimensional view of the elders and more easily consider their care goals and address their spiritual and psychosocial needs.

A pastoral care team’s primary responsibility is to guide people into a different phase of life with their faith and spiritual practices intact. The team coordinates and often leads group meetings, is available for one-to-one ministry, and is on-call for end-of-life care and ministry to grieving families.

The pastoral care ministry focuses on being present, uplifting and attuned to the spiritual needs of the elders. We can provide peace, comfort, and compassion by offering a listening ear and attending to an individual’s spiritual preferences.

Nazareth Home’s pastoral care team attends Mass alongside the elders six days a week, providing sacramental planning and companionship to the dying and their families. Pre-Covid-19, our team also (hopefully, to return soon) planned and hosted wakes and funerals in our chapels for those who lived at Nazareth Home.

Studies suggest that spiritual support is vital in the well-being and quality of life in older adults and those nearing the end of life. Elders and their families choose Nazareth Home for our spiritual care as much as for our nursing care. The pastoral care team helps elders, regardless of their denominational background, express their values and spiritual needs and prepare for the future while also helping family

members and loved ones make decisions in the elders’ best interests and enjoy the precious time left at the end of life.

Thank you to our pastoral care teams at our Clifton and Highlands campuses. You help us live out our mission of being a compassionate and welcoming community providing health and wellness services with an intentional focus on hospitality and excellence. We depend on you and appreciate you each day.

To learn more about our pastoral care team, visit nazhome.org/contact-us.