Spirituality and Spiritual Care (SC8001Z)

Postgraduate, 12.0 points

Content

This unit will enable participants to explore some of the key values and skills undergirding quality practice in spiritual care. This Micro-Credential unit will enable participants to explore the nature of spirituality and how our definitions of spirituality impact our spiritual care. This unit will also introduce spiritual assessment and care plans. The unit will cover the following topics:

  1. Key spiritual care values of equity, diversity & dignity of all persons
  2. Person-centred care and spiritual care as not proselytising
  3. 'Culture' and recent research on cultural shifts in religious & spiritual identity in Australia in the context of spiritual care, and corresponding rituals.
  4. Critical self-reflection

Unit code: SC8001Z

Unit status: Approved (New unit)

Points: 12.0

Unit level: Postgraduate Foundational

Unit discipline: Spiritual Care

Proposing College: Uniting College for Leadership and Theology

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Learning outcomes

1.

Articulate understanding of the key spiritual care values of equity, diversity and dignity of all persons.
2.

Explore the nature of person-centred care and spiritual care as not proselytising
3.

Discuss ‘culture’ and evidence-based research concerning recent cultural shifts in religious and spiritual identity in Australia, and corresponding rituals in the provision of spiritual care.
4.

Practice critical self-reflection to guide own formation as a spiritual care practitioner.

Pedagogy

Online synchronous, intensive days (with some face-to-face), case studies, workshops, creative approaches, reflective exercises

Indicative Bibliography

  • Cadge, Wendy, and Shelly Rambo, eds. Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care in the Twenty-First Century: An Introduction. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2022. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=3029644.
  • Puchalski, Christina M. A Time for Listening and Caring: Spirituality and the Care of the Chronically Ill and Dying. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
  • Swinton. John. "Moving beyond clarity: towards a thin, vague, and useful understanding of spirituality in nursing care." Nurs Philos (October 2010), 11 (4): 226-37. doi: 10.1111/j.1466-769X.2010.00450.x. See: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20840134/
  • Swinton, John. "What is Missing from Our Practice? Spirituality as Presence and Absence." Journal for the Study of Spirituality. (April 2015): 13-16. https://doi.org/10.1558/jss.v1i1.13

Other resources will be listed and/or provided in the Unit Guide and ARK.

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)
Portfolio 2200 0.75
Summative Reflection 800 0.25
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Prof Albert Haddad on 18 Nov, 2025

Unit record last updated: 2026-05-20 11:31:12 +1000