Over the past week, technicians and professionals in the health network have been informed of the implementation of Ministerial Order 2022-003, which aims to offer them better working conditions, in the form of an incentive pay and protection. We are delighted that the ministry is working to finally recognize the work of category 4 health workers, so far forgotten during the pandemic. A variety of job titles are involved: planning and programming officers, clinical cytogenetics technicians, nutritionists, biomedical engineers, technical coordinators, etc.
Initially, several job titles were forgotten, but were finally added to the list after various discussions between union representatives and the ministry. Unfortunately, to this day, job groups are still not reinstated: maladjusted child counselors, art therapists, community organizers, genetic counsellors, spiritual care workers, etc.
These workers, however, have contributed to the fight against the pandemic from the beginning, thanks to their expertise, by working for public health services, youth services and mental and physical health services. They have shown flexibility, adaptability and hard work. Some had to reinvent themselves during the pandemic by becoming service aids for patients with COVID-19. Others did not hesitate to take part in the ministry’s innovative projects to better care for the population.
As health workers of these excluded groups, but particularly as spiritual service professionals, we find the reason for this exclusion nebulous and inconsistent. Without an explanation from the ministry, which excludes a profession requiring at least a university degree, it is difficult for us not to conclude that this is a political choice. To wink at the work of Aurélie Lanctôt Liberals don’t like women. Essay on austeritywe deduce that the ministry ignores the quality of spiritual care workers as well as the ethical need to take into account the spirituality of people in the context of care, according to article 100 of the Health Services Act and social services.
While the CAQ is increasingly seeking to defend its alleged secularism, it has recently shown us a tendency to ally itself with the power of established religious authorities when it comes to accompaniment and support, particularly on the issue of non -vaccinated, rather than consulting their own civil servants who are experts in religious and spiritual health matters, with a non-denominational approach, moreover.
Why are spiritual care workers, qualified professionals, and others excluded, even though they have been at the forefront of the pandemic from the start? Why exclude those who have been present at the bedside of people at the end of life, including people who have died from the virus and their loved ones forced to say their final farewells in a restricted way? Why exclude those who have been a listener and a presence in the dark moments of hospital corridors and accommodation centers?
Why exclude those who work in mental health and who denounce the too frequent spiritual abuse? Why exclude those who are on call and who sometimes go to the hospital at night to accompany the loved ones of a child who is between life and death? Why exclude those who are present to accompany patients receiving medical assistance in dying and their loved ones? Why exclude these professionals who work every day with the multidisciplinary teams of hospitals and accommodation centers to offer the most appropriate and comprehensive care to users?
What are the reasons why the government does not recognize the work done within these services? We spiritual service professionals would like to hear them.
Let the department know that the associations and groups that have overseen our profession for more than sixty years have experienced this kind of setback, of forgetfulness and have had to deal with departmental decision-makers, for whom it was often easier to reach out to religious authorities regarding the management of the issue of spiritual and religious needs, as evidenced by our records. Do not forget also that this sector, which has professionalized with difficulty and misery, is based today on more than 60 years of research on religion, spirituality and health.
Our field of practice has had to face games of exclusion and discrimination against women and people from minorities. When we see Minister Lionel Carmant calling on religious authorities to discuss the approaches to be used with the unvaccinated, we can only think that history is repeating itself. Although we have broad shoulders and support the morale of patients, their loved ones and sometimes even hospital workers, we too are tired. Because we must also carry the weight of the malaise of the spiritual and the religious in Quebec, in addition to the ministerial incongruities and the contempt of the high authorities.
We sincerely hope that our hard work, recognized daily by our patients, but not by our ministry, it seems, will quickly be considered and that we, like our professional colleagues unionized with the APTS, will be added to this ministerial decree.
*This letter is co-signed by:
Amélie Villeneuve, spiritual care worker, Montreal
Pierre Alexandre Richard, spiritual care worker, Montreal
Jean-Bosco Gakwisi, spiritual care worker and teaching supervisor ACSS, Montreal
Doreen Shalla, Spiritual Care Worker, Montreal
Charbel Ibrahim, spiritual care worker, Montreal, vice-president ACSS-Quebec
Catherine Rioux-Crochetière, spiritual care worker, Montreal
Dominique Nguyen, spiritual care worker, Montreal
Nancy Johnson, ACSS President
Susan Buell, Spiritual Care Worker, Montreal
Martine Caillier, Spiritual Care Worker, Montreal
Lana Kim McGeary and Maryia Halaburda, spiritual care workers, Montreal