Nursing Care Anthroposophical nursing goes beyond traditional nursing by addressing the need of patients to be listened to and cared for in their surroundings. The quality of the air, light, heat, textures of bedclothes, fresh water and flowers, appropriate for the illness of the patient, are attended to. Footbaths, bodywork with oil rubbings, and encouragement in all the rhythms of the day are found in the relationship between nurse and patient. “The staff is extremely caring and there is a lot of individual attention. This is true across the doctors, nurses, chefs, and aides.” —S.S., 2011
Meals, Activities Three meals per day are served in a beautiful community dining room. All food is organic or biodynamic, with preference given to local produce. Delicious vegetarian meals are based on the therapeutic diet plan of the Lukas Klinik in Arlesheim, Switzerland. Group activities are an important aspect of the experience. Group singing starts the day (after breakfast), and evening cultural programs are spread throughout the session. There are also weekend outing opportunities, as well as nearby parks available for walking, hiking and plant observation. Ambulatory patients are encouraged to participate in the varied aspects of maintaining gardens, and to walk in the open air. Evening and weekend social events such as musical performances further enhance the sense of community. “I appreciate and honor that you have created a profound, holistic approach to healing and health in this country in one facility... I liked being with interesting, more like-minded people who, despite having serious health challenges, had a vibrancy and enthusiasm about their health care and their life... I really like singing. Sara is a lovely leader/teacher and I felt free to open my voice and find joy in singing. It felt uplifting to start the day with rhythms and sound. ... This is an impressive program...” —SBL, Cancer patient, 2011 For more information visit steinerhealth.org or email the staff at info@steinerhealth.org John Beck is editor of being human.
Inspired by Moral Imagination Current Research at Threefold
by Abigail Dancey From 2008–2013 Threefold Educational Center sponsored a series of symposiums to connect active anthroposophical researchers. The series drew inspiration from Henry Barnes’s 1991 call to anthroposophical institutions, including those with no resources to spare, to “find the way to work for future values (the purpose of all genuine research), while meeting the immediate demands of today, tomorrow and the next day.” Henry actively helped plan the first Michaelmas Symposium in 2008; he passed away, aged 96, just a week before the conference opened. The symposiums ended in 2013, but research remains central to Threefold’s mission and in spring 2015 twelve people, diverse in profession and age, assembled out of an interest in research and “moral imagination.” Our sense is that what distinguishes spiritual scientific research is acknowledgement that the role of the researcher is as pivotal as the content researched. So practices we develop toward self-knowledge and discernment become central to the research. Described as ‘the wellspring of the free spirit’ in Rudolf Steiner’s The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity, moral imagination forms a triad of capacities with moral intuition and moral technique. Our overarching research question is how these faculties can lift and illuminate both the content of research and researchers themselves. With support from the Henry Barnes Fund our first conference came at the end of September, with a second in early February and a third planned for June. The group will meet three times a year for the next three years, applying these methods to particular areas of concern. We envision connecting with like-minded research groups with concerns such as social justice, economy, and the moral dimensions of art. With people like Otto Scharmer and Peter Senge inspiring new social technologies, thousands are joining the effort to find new solutions to old problems. At Threefold Educational Center we’re asking how Spiritual Science and the work of Rudolf Steiner can add creative methodologies. See www.threefold.org/research for Henry’s essay, developments in our work, and ways to join in. Contact: Rafael Manaças [ rafael@threefold.org ]. easter–spring issue 2016
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