Namaste Hong Kong

Ever wondered what Namaste would look like in Hong Kong?

The ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has affected our lives in many ways. Under tumultuous times, there was concern that how we could get connected learn Namaste Care from Professor Joyce Simard beyond any physical boundaries in Hong Kong. The online training worked. We were pleased that we were receiving good support from Joyce and the team of Namaste Care International. 22 members of interdisciplinary team from the Hong Kong Chinese Christian Churches Union Kwong Yum Care Home were encouraged to engage in the 2-day virtual Namaste Care training in the midst of November 2020.

Ever wondered what Namaste would look like in Hong Kong?

持續嘅冠狀病毒（ COVID-19 ）大流行喺好多方面影響咗我哋嘅生活。 在動盪時期，有人擔心，我哋點樣能聯繫到乔伊斯·西马德教授，超越香港任何物理界限，學習纳马斯特護理。 在線培訓有效。 我哋好开心我哋得到咗乔伊斯同纳马斯特護理國際團隊嘅良好支持。 2020年11月間，香港中華基督教會聯合光百勝關懷之家嘅22名跨學科小組成員獲鼓勵參加為期兩日嘅虛擬纳马斯特護理訓練。

Joyce shared many featured stories and accessible method that explore Namaste Care in our Chinese culture contexts and reflect on the theory and practice of person-centred and spiritual care more creative and broadly. The vast majority of professional and programme staff expressed that it was indeed an inspiring and encouraging journey to learn more about the core value and compassionate practice of Namaste Care. Also, the impact of Namaste Care model of practice was performed as a catalyst for either increased motivation for inner change or for a drive for providing the best quality care to all our older adults, especially those who are living with terminal illness, in our aged care complex. I do remember Joyce shared a story that an old gentleman with double PhD had his reasons to get up after receiving Namaste Care in the residential care facility. That’s what inspired us to have reasons to shed the light for the betterment of our service users under any circumstances. Namaste Care is a kind of good meal to the person, so what we can do the best is to make a good recipe and perform as a good chef so that the person can enjoy the tasty meal no matter who they are, at anytime and in anywhere. Moreover, her teaching also touched our hearts to go deeply grasping what Empathy is. To us, “Empathy is how we reset the same level from the eyes of the person for the person.”

In 2021, Namaste CareTM – Hong Kong session will be launched. Hopefully it will revolutionise and enhance our person-centred care model by providing compassionate and spiritual care more intensively– to be respectful, timely and responsive to the preference and choice of the “Person” and enable them to maintain their capacities as long as possible, while supporting them when they experience the need of dignified end of life care.

The Person does matter.
Namaste.

In April 2021, The Hong Kong Chinese Christian Churches Union Kwong Yum Care Home officially launched the project, called “Vera Ruttonjee Desai Spiritual End-of-Life Care Centre”. It features Namaste CareTM to deliver high quality end-of-life services to the persons with terminal illness and their families with a spiritual care focus and the inclusion of holistic care programmes in a long-term care setting in Hong Kong.

The professional and frontline team, as our older adults’ spiritual care partners, engaged in 2-day intensive training and learned the model of spiritual end-of-life care and Namaste CareTM @Hong Kong session.

During the training, all spiritual care partners learnt how to support older adults to experience the dignified end of life care through intuitive, organic, contemplative and mindful practices. The caring ambience of upholding and honoring the spirit of every single being was highly promoted. We paid collaborative effort to make a mission statement on actualizing our indigenous model of Spiritual End-of-Life Care with the mission of Namaste CareTM . We hope that our spiritual end-of-life care team can portray the wisdom of integrity of our older adults and path the way for the pursuit of their well-being at the end of life journey.

乔伊斯分享咗好多特色故仔同通俗易懂的方法，探索咗中國文化背景下嘅纳马斯特關懷，並反思了以人為本和精神關懷嘅理論同實踐，更具創造性和廣泛性。 絕大多數專業和方案工作人員表示，更多地了解纳马斯特護理嘅核心價值和富有同情心嘅做法確實係一次皷舞人心同皷舞人心嘅旅程。 此外，纳马斯特護理實踐模式嘅影響，係促進我哋老年護理綜合體中增加內在變化動機或推動向所有老年人，特別是患有絕症的老年人提供最優質護理嘅催化劑。 我記得乔伊斯分享了一個故仔，一位擁有雙博士學位嘅老先生喺住院護理機構接受纳马斯特護理後有理由起身。 就係激勵我哋有理由喺任何情況下為改善我哋嘅服務用戶提供啟示嘅原因。 纳马斯特護理係一種好餐嘅人，所以我哋可以做嘅最好嘅係做一個好嘅食譜，並作為一個好廚師表演，使人可以享受美味嘅餸菜，無論佢哋係邊個，在任何時候，在任何地方。 此外，她的教導都觸動埋我哋心，去深刻領會乜嘢係同情。 對我們來說，”感同身受係我哋如何由人嘅眼中重置相同嘅水平。

2021年，纳马斯特關懷TM-香港會議將啟動。 希望通過更深入地提供富有同情心和精神關懷，徹底改變和增強我們以人為本的護理模式——尊重、及時和響應”人”的偏好和選擇，使他們能夠盡可能長時間地保持自己的能力，同時在他們遇到有尊嚴的終止生命護理的需要時支持他們。

呢個人確實好緊要。
纳马斯特

Namaste Care Family Programme In Hong Kong

Get in Touch

Namaste Hong Kong In Action

Have a look through all the amazing pictures we have captured. If you do have any photos that you would like to share with us then please feel free to share with us at info@namastecareinternational.co.uk

Before Namaste Care Session 投入靈安護理前

Loving Touch 愛的觸模

Prepare the room 環境佈置

Session Operation 小組活動

Vennus Ho Yuen-wai

Namaste Care International Associates

Vennus is a senior executive as well as a trainer, with an interdisciplinary focus that spans the fields of gerontology, dementia care, palliative care, spirituality, and expressive arts. She has been appointed as a member of Guardianship Board of HKSAR Government since 2017. She is currently serving as the Superintendent of the Hong Kong Chinese Christian Churches Union Kwong Yum Care Home. Vennus is committed to striving for the high quality aged care, developing innovative and holistic dementia and end-of-life care model and cultivating spiritual care and person-centred care for older adults. She has been providing training and consultancy services in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. She also published several articles in the area of dementia care and completed several evidence-based studies.
As a visual artist, social worker and arts therapist, Vennus is dedicated to integrating arts into life and promoting spirituality and wellness of people. She has been addressing the spiritual needs of older adults and caregivers, and employing expressive arts therapy to fill the niches of practice and research. With her leadership, the team is committed to developing spiritual end-of-life care centre which features Namaste Care to deliver high quality end-of-life care services to the persons with terminal illness and families with a spiritual care focus in the long-term care setting.

Namaste Testimonials

Namaste Care is all about bringing joy and comfort in the lives of people with dementia. By using meaningful activities, we try to connect with the person with dementia. It is about the little moments where you feel that you were able to true connect with the person with dementia to motivate me to continue. For example seeing a smile on the face of the resident that is often non-responsive, hearing a resident speak a full sentence that before Namaste did not say more than one or two words, and seeing the woman that always wandered the corridors sitting in the Namaste room in a comfortable chair with a relaxed expression on her face. The beauty of Namaste Care lays in its simplicity, no expensive equipment or elaborate training is necessary, just loving care and personal attention. It helps family caregivers to meaningfully connect to their loved one. It is a great tool to bring person-centred palliative care to life and to involve family caregivers in a positive way with the care for their loved one.
By Florina Grace - Greece
We are closer to our clients” said one caregiver to me after few months of Namaste care programme in their care home. And that’s the point. Be close to our clients, be able to perceive their individual needs and be able to slowdown in daily routine. Namaste care is about the most common things which we forget to use. It’s about kindness, touch, senses and people. Namaste care is about relationships between clients and caregivers. What you give, you get. Namaste care International is the most inspiring online meeting which you can imagine. How often do you have a chance to speak with people all around the world? Namaste care International is about support, inspiration and common goal which is dignity and quality as a basic principle of care.
Simona Bagarova - Czech Republic
Namaste Care is all about bringing joy and comfort in the lives of people with dementia. By using meaningful activities, we try to connect with the person with dementia. It is about the little moments where you feel that you were able to true connect with the person with dementia to motivate me to continue. For example seeing a smile on the face of the resident that is often non-responsive, hearing a resident speak a full sentence that before Namaste did not say more than one or two words, and seeing the woman that always wandered the corridors sitting in the Namaste room in a comfortable chair with a relaxed expression on her face. The beauty of Namaste Care lays in its simplicity, no expensive equipment or elaborate training is necessary, just loving care and personal attention. It helps family caregivers to meaningfully connect to their loved one. It is a great tool to bring person-centred palliative care to life and to involve family caregivers in a positive way with the care for their loved one.
Hanneke Smaling - Netherlands

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