Chaplains fulfil a vital role in meaningful nursing home care

14 September 2020

Admission to a nursing home is a drastic event with a profound impact on that person’s sense of meaning; who am I now? By contrast, people who work in a nursing home have generally chosen to do so deliberately, which has much to do with their own sense of meaning, and specifically the desire to do meaningful work for other people. This study explores the question what it means in everyday practice for people to interact and work together within the setting of a nursing home.

The study shows that meaningful care is strongly related to the personal interaction within the care relationship. In a nursing home, people mainly find support in other people. Residents and clients wish to be seen as a person who continues to be meaningful to other people. Care providers wish to work from their heart and find their reward in personal contact. This makes the nursing home a setting of experiencing meaning, where people empathise with each other, care for each other, and experience joy together. At the same time, there are various areas of tension where both care givers and receivers must find their way. The doctorate candidate shows how chaplains play a vital role in strengthening this connection between ‘care’ and ‘meaning’.

In his study, Nico van der Leer assumes that there is an intrinsic connection between ‘care’ and ‘meaning’. The theoretical elaboration of this study draws on three research disciplines: care ethics, spiritual care, and chaplaincy. He used a qualitative-empirical research method to examine how this connection is actually realised in everyday nursing home practices. He performed the research in a revalidation unit and a residential unit within the organisation where he works as chaplain. 

The results of this study are instructive for chaplains and researchers, with valuable insights for care professionals, trainers, managers and directors in elderly care. 

Nico A. van der Leer (1957) studied theology at Utrecht University and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. After many years working as a parish pastor, he has worked in elderly care since 2010. He completed a Master’s degree in Care Ethics and Policy at the University of Humanistic Studies from 2012 to 2014, in preparation for his doctorate research into ‘Meaningful care in nursing homes’.  He currently works as chaplain and a specialist in meaning-of-life at PZC Dordrecht, an organisation for (revalidation) care, residential care and well-being, which has as its motto: ‘Meaningful life and work’. 

The dissertation is published by KokBoekencentrum Uitgevers, Utrecht. The commercial edition of Zinvolle zorg in het verpleeghuis (400 pages, Dutch only) is available in (online) bookshops starting from 15 September, for € 24.95 (ISBN number 978 90 0435 3366 9).

PhD Defence Nico van der Leer

Nico van der Leer will defend his dissertation at the University of Humanistic Studies on Monday 14 September.

Location: Pieterskerk in Utrecht, at 12.00 hrs.

There are no more seats available to attend the event live, but to attend it online go to this YouTube link.

Chaplains fulfil a vital role in strengthening the connection between ‘care’ and ‘meaning’ in nursing homes. Nico van der Leer comes to this conclusion in his dissertation om meaningful care in nursing homes,