The Incorporation of Spiritual Care into Israeli Medical Organizations

Abstract

The objectives of this chapter are to analyze participants’ perspectives of spiritual care and its incorporation into hospitals and elderly homes, and to suggest a preliminary interpretation of this phenomenon in light of its embeddedness within the New Age Spirituality in Israel. It demonstrates that in its current form, spiritual care in Israel has been translated into a non-religious practice. It is formed as a self-spirituality practice, which resembles what Paul Heelas defines as the “New Age self-spirituality movement”. When introduced to mainstream organizations, spiritual care providers face doubts and resistance, just like spiritual consultants who try to introduce workplace spirituality into business organizations.