Griffin Hospital to Host Spiritual Awakening Program

DERBY- Griffin Hospital’s Community Health Resource Center will host a free program on meditation and spirituality from 9:30-10:30 a.m. on Wed., Jan. 27 at the hospital’s Meditation and Learning Center, 130 Division St., Derby.

 

Janice Lautier, director of Spiritual Care and Education at Griffin, will host “Awakening the Sense of Spirituality,” an interactive program that demonstrates how spirituality and meditation can help bring feelings of inner peace and purpose.

 

This program is part of a series of free, educational forums hosted by the Community Health Resource Center in an effort to help improve the health of the community.

 

To register or for more information, call Kerry or Deborah at 203-732-7399.

 

The Community Health Resource Center at Griffin Hospital is a traditional library that provides an array of medical and health information, including a large collection of easy to read health and lifestyle related materials. The Center is open to the public to educate themselves on ways to enhance their well-being, prevent illness and play an active role in decisions about their health.

 

(This is a press release from Griffin Hospital)

Shelton resident, 88, pens inspirational book

SHELTON - Painter, singer, and author, Doris Thorn has been expanding her wealth of knowledge and faith in God from a very young age.
Now 88, Thorn shares her experiences with the world. She has written an inspirational work, "Casting Light on the Mystery of God in You."

 

It encompasses Thorn's experience and wisdom that she’s gathered over the decades.
In a practical and down-to-earth writing style. Thorn offers exercises for developing spirituality, and ways to discover and increase the spirit of God in you.

“Doris Thorn takes the reader on an inspiring, in-depth journey into the world of the spiritual, an exciting blend of science and faith.” - Reverend J. George Hilton

"Casting Light on the Mystery of God in You" is available to order from friesenpress.com/bookstore and Amazon.

As the daughter of a Methodist minister, Thorn received religious education at a very young age. As she grew, she wanted to know more, and began a lifelong quest of religious and spiritual discovery to find her own truth.
For the past 60 years, she has studied various metaphysical books and teachings of many great religious movements.
This has given her a wider outlook and overall view of spiritual teachings, which she now shares with her readers.

Thorn is a resident of Crosby Commons at Wesley Village, an assisted living community in Shelton.


This information is taken from a press release.

Talk to focus on spirituality, heart health link

Griffin committee plans annual program Feb. 7 
 
DERBY - The 8th Annual Women and Heart Disease program will feature a talk about connections between spirituality and heart health.

The Reverend Jo Clare Wilson will present “A Heart with Soul is a Healthy Heart” at this annual event hosted by Griffin Hospital’s Women and Heart Disease Committee. 

The dinner will be held Feb. 7 at Grassy Hill Lodge. Registration and a silent auction will start at 5 p.m., followed at 6 p.m. by dinner and the program.

An ordained clergy in the Disciples of Christ Church and an ACPE, Inc. Supervisor, Wilson serves as director of Pastoral Care and Education at Griffin Hospital. 
 She began her professional career at a mental health center in Scottsbluff, Neb., working as a therapist for individuals, families and groups as well as supervising Clinical Pastoral Education students at the local hospital. She later worked at healthcare institutions in Michigan, Georgia and South Carolina before coming to Griffin in 2000.

Wilson's focus in pastoral care has been in mental health, addiction and spirituality. She has been particularly invested in the Planetree philosophy of understanding the connection and influence in health and healing between mind, body and spirit.

The event will also feature ceremonies for the Community Caring Heart Award. This year, The Valley Women’s Health Initiative/Women Making a Difference and Naugatuck Mayor Robert Mezzo, will receive the award in recognition of their initiatives that promote and improve the general health and well-being of all.

Tickets are $35 and the event is open to the public. To make a reservation or for more information, call 203-732-1137. Proceeds benefit the Women and Heart Disease Fund. Reservations are due by Jan 31.

According to the American Heart Association, heart disease kills nearly twice as many women in the United States than all types of cancer combined, yet fewer than one out of four women think heart disease is a threat to their health. 
In recognition of this fact, Griffin Hospital's Women and Heart Disease Committee - consisting of members of the Community Outreach and Valley Parish Nurse Program, nursing and other healthcare professionals, and volunteers from throughout the community - hosts the annual event to better educate women about heart disease.

Daun Barrett and Dee Klingaman are co-chairs of the Women and Heart Disease Committee for 2013. 
Additional committee members include Lisa Bisson, Laura Bracci, JoAnn Brejwo, Luisa Canestri, Laurie Casey, Maureen Coffey, Jeannette Connelly, Dorothy Gandy, Joanne Halstead, RN, Anita Jain, RN, Bev Kondor, RN, Eunice Lisk, Laurene Schultz, Maria Silvestre, RN, and Mary Swansiger, RN.

Griffin to offer spiritual care training

DERBY - Griffin Hospital will start a spiritual care training program this year thanks to a generous grant from philanthropist Jean Graustein.

The Clinical Pastoral Education for Healthcare Program will provide nurses and other healthcare professionals with clinical and classroom training in how to include spirituality into the care they provide their patients.

“This program will help healthcare professionals understand how patients’ beliefs and values are integral to the whole person and how they can include their own spirituality in a manner that is helpful in human interaction and relationships,” said the Rev. Jo Clare Wilson, director of Griffin’s Pastoral Care and Education Program.

Wilson said she hopes the program will serve as a model for other hospitals in the Planetree Inc. network, of which Griffin is a member.
Planetree is an international consumer healthcare organization dedicated to humanizing health care, including implementation of innovative models of healthcare that focus on healing and nurturing of body, mind, and spirit.

Though spirituality is increasingly considered part of the healing process and a necessary ingredient in the delivery of excellent care, Wilson said, medical and nursing staff often see it as the exclusive domain of pastoral care, the patient, or the patient’s own family or personal spiritual leader.

“The Planetree vision for the incorporation of spirituality in care requires that healthcare providers, not just the chaplains, are knowledgeable about and aware of the spiritual needs of patients and families as central to the healing process,” Wilson said.

This information is taken from a press release from Griffin Hospital.