Bogoslovska smotra, Vol. 88 No. 1, 2018.
Original scientific paper
The Role of Spirituality in the Implementation of the »National Programme of Psycho‑social. Help and Health Care for Participants and Victims of the Croatian War of Independence…«
Ivana Bendra
orcid.org/0000-0002-6592-1308
; Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar – Regional Center Vukovar, Vukovar, Croatia
Abstract
Spirituality has been recognised as an important factor that allows participants of crisis social situations a more successful reintegration back into society and an easier dealing with hard traumatic experiences. Thus, the goal of this article is to show the way in which the Republic of Croatia, i.e. Ministarstvo hrvatskih branitelja (the Ministry of Croatian Defenders), included spiritual activities in the work of institutions founded on the basis of the implementation of the National Programme of Psycho‑Social Help and Health Care for Participants and Victims of the Croatian War of Independence on the local (county), regional, and national level. In order to achieve this goal the author begins with an analysis of results of annual reports on the implementation of the National Programme for the period between 2000 until 2013. This is followed by an overview of results of research conducted by the method of half‑structured interviews. These interviews, carried out on the local/country level (Vukovar/ Vukovarsko‑Srijemska county) and regional level (Osijek), speak about how these spiritual activities were conducted within the frame of institutions that have been founded on the basis of the implementation of the National Programme and spiritual activities conducted in the cooperation with the Catholic Church outside of the aforementioned institutions. Results of research show that although the importance of spirituality has been pointed out in the 5th principle of the implementation of the National Programme, activities conducted so far did not involve the spiritual dimension, neither within institutions founded on the basis of the implementation of the National Programme (pastoral care in health care), nor through the cooperation with other rele vant institutions (the Catholic Church). Hence, the article concludes that there was no recognition, within the frame of the National Programme, of either a possible contribution of the Catholic Church, or the general importance of the spiritual dimension in the process of dealing with war traumas of participants and victims of the Croatian War of Independence. Consequently, the article will present an example that shows how the spiritual dimension was included in the programme of psycho‑social help and health care for veterans of the USA and argue for a possible contribution and potential of the possibility to apply this model in the Republic of Croatia.
Keywords
National Programme of Psycho‑Social Help and Health Care for Participants and Victims of the Croatian War of Independence…; participants and victims of the Croatian War of Independence; spirituality; pastoral care in health care; Catholic Church; spiritual care for veterans in the USA
Hrčak ID:
200754
URI
Publication date:
29.5.2018.
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