The Qualifications that Must be Found in a Staff to Provide Spiritual Counselling and Guidance in Nursing Houses

Abstract

Spiritual counselling and guidance services in the old age is an area that has not yet been fully determined in terms of education policy, qualification criteria, limits and scope. In order to achieve desired results in the implementation of spiritual counselling and guidance services for individuals who spend their old age in nursing homes, researches on different aspects of the subject are required. Nursing homes are institutions that provide care and rehabilitation services to individuals over the age of 60 living in our country. The elderly people staying here need moral and psychological support from time to time due to the psychology of being at the end of their lives. Some of the reasons leading to this are as follows: Fear of death, weariness, loss of strength, the increase of various diseases, the feeling of abandonment, the lack of satisfaction of love-respect needs, apathy, isolation from society, economic decline and hopelessness about the future.
 In order to ensure that the old age is a sensitive period and to provide constructive and productive support to these people who experience physical and mental decline, the staff who will provide this service to the individuals staying in nursing homes should be equipped with certain qualifications. In this context, the aim of the study is to examine the qualifications of the Presidency of Religious Affairs personnel who will provide spiritual counselling and guidance services in nursing homes. For this purpose, literature review method was used in the study. As a result of the researches and the information obtained on the subject, it has been determined that the personnel who will provide spiritual counselling in nursing homes should have the following qualifications in order to carry out their duties in a more accurate, consistent and qualified manner: Mastery of theological sciences; to have the knowledge and equipment to carry out spiritual counselling and guidance activities, to know the characteristics and problems of the old age period and finally, to build human relations on love and empathy.