Understanding people’s needs

Non-religious pastoral carers are person centred, so it is natural that they would want the views of service users to play a large role in guiding service provision. One might expect this to be the case with religious and spiritual care. Non-religious pastoral carers are person centred, so it is natural that they would want the views of service users to play a large role in guiding service provision. One might expect this to be the case with religious and spiritual care. That understanding should be based on independent and objective research. Fortunately, all major institutions are well versed in conducting or commissioning such research. One value of these smaller qualitative studies is that they can reveal issues which may not be apparent in large scale surveys. Institutional management can play a crucial role in helping to make the cultural shift towards service user-led provision and initiating independent, high-quality studies into understanding service users&s; needs and priorities.