More than 1,000 Signature staff members registered for the recent Spirituality LearnFEST, a virtual learning conference that encouraged participants to consider the impact of spirituality, if fully activated, in a long-term care environment.
And that number doesn’t even include the many who joined in groups, in offices, breakrooms and wherever there were TVs or computers at Signature centers across 10 states to view the live broadcast. The event featured sessions that tied spirituality to numerous aspects of long-term care and health care, from clinical care to legislative involvement and the impact of spirituality in the workplace.
“This was the first-ever Spirituality LearnFEST and we’re thrilled about taking our spiritual-clinical revolution to the next level!” said Dianne Timmering, Vice President of Spirituality and Legislative Affairs for Signature. “We are so pleased with the success of the event and are grateful to all the speakers and teams who contributed to its success.”
In addition to Signature’s own resident experts, special guest speakers included Dr. Meera Alagaraja, of the University of Louisville’s College of Education & Human Development, and American Health Care Association President and CEO Mark Parkinson.
Sessions were scheduled strategically so that every shift had an opportunity to tune into the broadcast. And based on feedback, the event was a major hit.
“What a great opportunity to see Spirituality welcomed and utilized in the work place,” said Pastor James Bell, Director of Spirituality at Chesapeake Shores, in Lexington Park, Md. “All the sessions were informative, but I really enjoyed the ‘The Power of the Ask’ and ‘Fostering the Work-Spirit Connection.’ The power of ask is available to everybody despite your past or current situation. More people need to know this, and I plan to encourage others to ask more for themselves and their family and friends, which in turn would strengthen them spiritually.
At Signature HealthCARE of Waterford, in Miami, Chaplain Maria Meneses served up Cuban pastelitos, sandwiches and refreshments to kick off the viewing party.
“I think it’s great that we can pray and celebrate whatever faith or religion we follow at work,” she said. “I’ve never seen that in any company I’ve dealt with before.”
But the conference wasn’t only aimed at members of the spirituality team. Others also found value as it applies to their day-to-day work.
Kelly Whittington, a Rehabilitation Services Manager in the therapy department at Surrey Place Care Center, in Live Oak, Fla., called the presentation on Music & Memory ‘very interesting’ and said, “Learning more about the effectiveness of individualizing the music for each person is something we are looking forward to having at Surrey Place.”
Spirituality LearnFEST can now be viewed in its entirety at SHCLearnFest.com. For help logging in, contact David Eisenmenger, deisenmenger@signaturehealthcarellc.com