Site Feature: Arts-based Spiritual Care at Providence Health Care

Written by Anne Tuppurainen, who is the Director of Spiritual Health and Pastoral Care at Providence Health Care in Vancouver B.C. Anne is a co- lead researcher in our Art and Spirituality Research Project.

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Introducing Providence Health Care

Providence Health Care (PHC) is one of the largest Catholic health care organizations in Canada. Providence is located on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples – the xʷmәθkʷәy̓әm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw  (Squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ  (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations. Guided by the principle ‘How You Want to Be Treated,’ we deliver compassionate care to patients and residents each year, while training medical professionals and making innovative advances in research. The PHC values are based on the 130-year-old legacy of the founding sisters: 

SPIRITUALITY: We nurture the God-given creativity, love and compassion that dwells within us all. 

INTEGRITY:  We build our relationships on honesty, justice and fairness. 

STEWARDSHIP:  We share accountability for the well-being of our community. 

TRUST: We behave in ways that promote safety, inclusion and support. 

EXCELLENCE:  We achieve excellence through learning and continuous improvement. 

RESPECT:  We respect the diversity, dignity and inter-dependence of all persons. 

PHC has CASC/ACSS trained Spiritual Health Practitioners, who provide exceptional care with skill and innovation at all our sites, including hospitals, hospices, rehabilitation services, clinics, and Long-Term Care homes (see the Spiritual Health and Pastoral Care team photo above).  

Innovation and Arts-based Spiritual Care Research  

Spiritual Health Practitioners at PHC work with medical staff and other allied health professionals, such as clinical counsellors, social workers, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, dieticians, etc. They attend medical rounds and participate in care conferences. In 2021, a group of Spiritual Health Practitioners at PHC got to partner with the Trinity Western University on an “Arts-based Spiritual Care” research study. Their scoping review article was published in a peer reviewed journal.(paper linked here). The project has continued and expanded so that PHC has become a site for the Art and Spirituality research. An example of this is the ‘Art Carts and Art Baskets” project, which was made possible by the St. Paul’s Foundation’s Enhancing Patient Care (EPC) grant. 

The Art Carts are used by SHPs at three PHC sites to gather knowledge on how art is used in spiritual care and to advance equity. The three sites for Arts-based Spiritual Care research were chosen to reflect the richness of the demographic nature of the Vancouver area (such as St. Paul's Hospital.) 

How do we support patients, residents and staff?

Arts-based spiritual care supports innovative ways providing person and family-centred, value-based care, offering support in navigating: 

• Spiritual or existential distress.

• The emotional, spiritual, and social impacts of illness/injury and health uncertainty.

• The loss of connection and meaning that can arise during times of illness, injury or disease.

• The joy/grief/loss that occurs within the health care journey. 

We work with partners in the community to provide support for all faith representations.

About Art at PHC 

“At PHC we acknowledge the profound impact of art on healing and well-being.”

Our initiative has been to take the Arts-based Spiritual Care into contexts where it provides a vehicle / vessel for patients / residents / clients / family members / staff to share their emotions and feelings with or without words in a psychologically safe place.

As an illustration, I would like to share a clinical photo picturing a hospital bed with health care providers standing around and caring for a patient. In comparison, I provide photos of the art carts inviting the person to be present, here, and now, to find grounding, time and place for sharing, storytelling, and connection. The spiritual care art cart becomes a vessel of hospitality in clinical setting. 

The Arts-based Spiritual Care research is in its early stages at PHC, but it has already demonstrated its invaluable role in supporting and enhancing care. In addition, it has demonstrated as a valuable component in the Clinical Psychospiritual Education (CPE) program, accredited by Canadian Association of Spiritual Care (CASC/ACSS. The PHC CPE interns and residents have been an active part of the initial study and thus have been deepening their spiritual care research competency.  

Arts in Spiritual Care have many forms, it may be a poem, drumming, painting, photograph, coloring, grafting, etc. Our vision is to enhance wellbeing and foster connection through the intentional integration of Art and Spiritual Care at PHC by nurturing cultural safety, storytelling and community engagement while advancing person and family centered spiritual care transforming bedsides into places of healing and belonging.   

More information about Providence Health Care you can contact Anne Tuppurainen, Director, Spiritual Health and Pastoral Care atuppurainen@providencehealh.bc.ca or may scan the below QR code: