Clinical Management Reporting and Objective Diagnostic Instruments for Spiritual Assessment in Spinal Cord Injury Patients

Objective Instruments (SPA/SSI) and Clinical Management Reports (CMRs) were used for diagnostic and follow-up spiritual assessment in a man with acute spinal cord injury (SCI) and for diagnostic measurement in 37 other SCI patients. A set of five characteristic spiritual concerns of SCI patients was identified. Further it was shown SCI patients require about five times as much time per patient as other hospital patients for both chaplaincy and social work providers. Recommendations to Chaplain SCI programs suggest the SPA/SSI and CMRs are extremely useful in more prompt and focused response to SCI patient need and better communication and support from other health professionals. Management should be sure sufficient chaplain staff are provided to SCI patients both in time alloted and in specialized diagnostic training, so the SCI cases will be processed most expeditously.     

Exploring the Phenomenon of Spiritual Care Between Hospital Chaplains and Hospital Based Healthcare Providers

Hospital chaplaincy and spiritual care services are important to patients’ medical care and well-being; however, little is known about healthcare providers’ experiences receiving spiritual support. A phenomenological study examined the shared experience of spiritual care between hospital chaplains and hospital-based healthcare providers (HBHPs). Six distinct themes emerged from the in-depth interviews: Awareness of chaplain availability, chaplains focus on building relationships with providers and staff, chaplains are integrated in varying degrees on certain hospital units, chaplains meet providers’ personal and professional needs, providers appreciate chaplains, and barriers to expanding hospital chaplains’ services. While HBHPs appreciated the care received and were able to provide better patient care as a result, participants reported that administrators may not recognize the true value of the care provided. Implications from this study are applied to hospital chaplaincy clinical, research, and training opportunities.     

Evaluation of a Chaplain Residency Program and Its Partnership with an In-Patient Palliative Care Team

In 2009 a Consensus Conference of experts in the field of spiritual care and palliative care recommended the inclusion of Board-certified professional chaplains with at least 1,600 hours of clinical pastoral education as members of palliative care teams. This study evaluates a clinical pastoral education residency program’s effectiveness in preparing persons to provide spiritual care for those with serious illness and in increasing the palliative care team members’ understanding of the chaplain as part of the palliative care team. Results showed chaplain residents felt the program prepared them to provide care for those with serious illness. It also showed that chaplain residents and palliative care team members view spirituality as an integral part of palliative care and see the chaplain as the team member to lead that effort. Suggested program improvements include longer palliative care orientation period, more shadowing with palliative care team members, and improved communication between palliative care and the chaplain residents.     

Research Priorities for Healthcare Chaplaincy: Views of U.S. Chaplains

Chaplains in the United States and around the world appear to support an evidence-based practice approach to chaplaincy. While there continues to be strong growth in spiritual care research, several spiritual care researchers have stressed the need for a research agenda for chaplaincy. This study investigated the research priorities of chaplains who completed a survey distributed at four chaplaincy conferences in 2016. A total of 193 chaplains responded, resulting in 499 comments. When compared to the findings of existing literature regarding research priorities for chaplaincy, chaplain’s views of research priorities appear to be very consistent with views of chaplaincy leaders. Both prioritize research on outcomes of spiritual care, the development and testing of the effectiveness of interventions, the development and evaluation of assessment and screening tools and research about key subgroups of patients. The chaplains in the survey however added to the agenda research regarding competencies, education, and certification and research regarding the chaplain and the team.     

The Comprehensive Female Soldier Support Model

Women represent a small minority in the U.S. military and an even smaller minority in the military chaplaincy. Prior to this study, the U.S. Army chaplaincy did not have a gender-specific model for providing support to women soldiers. In this Delphi research project, wounded women soldiers and female military chaplains provided expert opinions to develop the comprehensive female soldier support model (CFS2). Ten military women and 11 female chaplains who had been deployed overseas contributed to the body of knowledge related to the understanding of the emotional and spiritual support needs of wounded female soldiers. Five key findings appeared in the study: (a) many women did not get the chaplain support they needed; (b) the gender of the chaplain was not significant; (c) the attitude of the chaplain was critical; (d) chaplain skills not found in literature were identified; and (e) the comprehensive female soldier support model was developed.     

Mental Health Clinician and Community Clergy Collaboration to Address Moral Injury in Veterans and the Role of the Veterans Affairs Chaplain

Moral injury in veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder includes symptoms of guilt and shame, and these symptoms are often not responsive to evidence-based mental health treatments. Clergy provide a pathway for relieving the guilt and shame. However, there is a long history of mistrust between clergy and mental health clinicians and not enough Veterans Health Administration chaplains to meet this need. The goal of this study was to gather qualitative interview data from relevant stakeholders regarding whether and how Veterans Affairs (VA) mental health clinicians and community clergy could collaborate to address moral injury issues such as guilt and shame in veterans being treated for posttraumatic stress disorder. The stakeholders for this study were veterans, mental health clinicians, and clergy. Qualitative data were organized into three domains: barriers, facilitators, and intervention suggestions. These data were used to develop a new intervention for moral injury that includes a central role for the Veterans Affairs chaplain.     

Outpatient Care: The Modern Chaplains' New Impact in Healthcare Reform

SUMMARY

An oncology chaplain details, using The Discipline for Pastoral Care Giving, common themes in the spiritual journeys of stem cell/bone marrow transplantation survivors, and helpful chaplain interventions.