Most people agree that the spiritual dimension of people’s lives is important yet there are few practical examples of how we can help meet this need. Melanie Curtis and her colleagues describe how they tackled the subject.

HOLISM IS A key term when describing the care of people with learning disabilities. However, from the research literature as well as personal experience, it seems that an individual’s spiritual needs, either as a religious or non-religious concept, are rarely recognised and assessed, let alone met within services. This also appears to be the case for anyone, with or without a learning disability, who is receiving care (Foster 2000; Govier 2000).