Spiritual Health Support for Individuals with Serious Mental Illness in the Community

Abstract

This paper presents a qualitative research project that examines the role of the spiritual health practitioner in an interprofessional Assertive Community Treatment team. The full-time spiritual health practitioner worked alongside the team to support clients with severe mental illness over a six-month period from September 2016 to March 2017. The project examined how the spiritual health needs of clients were addressed through the clinical practice of a spiritual health practitioner. Written in a narrative voice, the findings are presented and discussed, study limitations are identified, recommendations regarding the provision of spiritual health care in the community are made, and areas of future research suggested.