Evidence Based Fundamentals of Health Care Chaplaincy (eBook)

Eric J. Hall DTh. APBCC (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2024 | 1. Auflage
452 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3509-4783-0 (ISBN)

Infos

A complied resource of evidence-based research validating and providing guidance for integrating spiritual care into health care settings and other whole person care situations and circumstances. A core focus of HealthCare Chaplaincy Network (HCCN) has always been the integration of spiritual care into health care in the United States through evidence-based clinical practice, education, advocacy, and more. Key to our efforts has been the encouragement and publication of research. At HCCN's first ever Caring for the Human Spirit Conference in 2014, several groundbreaking studies werepresented, funded by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. At the time, this was the first large-scale attempt at forming an evidence base for spiritual care effectiveness in health care. Our hope was that this conference would act as the launch pad for a rigorous new field of long-overdue research. Since then, HCCN and its affiliates the Spiritual Care Association (SCA) and Capstone University, have become the major innovators and change agents in the field of modern professional chaplaincy. Over a five-year period between 2016 and 2021, SCA invested in the research and publication of nine foundational white papers. These documents explore aspects of the importance of spiritual care in various health care settings, including hospital chaplaincy, hospice and palliative care chaplaincy, the emerging field of telechaplaincy, theroles of the physician, the nurse, and the social worker in spiritual care, and more. These foundational papers have now been collected in a single volume for ease of publication and access. Our hope is that all chaplains, whether new or experienced in the profession, will benefit from this work, and that some may become inspired to participate in further research to push the field of professional chaplaincy in new directionsThe SpiritualCareAssociation (SCA)was formed tostandardizethefragmentedfieldofprofessionalchaplaincytrainingbyprovidingresources,education,andcertificationbackedbyevidence-basedpracticeandindicatorsofqualitycare.TheensuingdevelopmentofCommonStandardsandQualityIndicatorsinspiritualcareensurethattheskillsandperformanceofSCA-trainedchaplainsandspiritualcaregiverscanbemeasuredobjectively,whichisofvitalimportancetohiringmanagersinallhealthcaresettings.Inaddition,newmethodsfortrainingandcredentialinghavebeendevelopedforseveralnon-chaplain health care groups,including firstresponders,physicians,nurses,socialworkers,palliativecareandhospiceworkers,andvolunteers.TheSCA'sLearningCenteristhemostextensiveandmostsuccessfulonlinechaplaineducationprogramworldwide,andtheSpiritualCareResourcesappisthefirstonlineapplicationthatgivesmobileaccesstothelatestinformationonbestpracticesinspiritualcareforchaplainsworking in health care,hospiceandpalliative care, and first responder settings.

Textauszug

What Is Spiritual Care and Why Is It Important?

The spiritual life of human beings has always set our species apart from other intelligent life on earth. Far back in prehistory, our human ancestors exercised creativity, curiosity, and wonder. They painted stunning art in caves in Europe,1 created musical instruments out of animal bones,2 and buried their dead.3 The curiosity and resilience of the human spirit drove our closest ancestors out of Africa about 60,000 to 100,000 years ago4 on a quest for new horizons. Since then, humans have spread to every corner of the Earth, have landed on the Moon, and are now reaching to other planets in our solar system and beyond. Yet, despite our sophisticated advances in technology, society, philosophy, and religion, we are still driven by that same basic human spirit to seek meaning and purpose in life and to reach out for something greater than ourselves.

Human Spirituality and World Religions

It seems the human spirit has always manifested itself in spiritual beliefs and practices.

The world’s religions have developed at various times in history among people of different cultures in different parts of the world. Today’s major world religions—Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam—span more than 4,500 years of human history.5 Their theologies, world views, beliefs, rituals, scriptures, and divine beings vary widely, yet all share a common basic purpose. They provide answers to the big questions humans have always asked: who am I, where do I come from, where do I go when I die, and how should I live to merit reward in this life and avoid punishment in the next? Many people find comfort in religious teachings. Others have no need for organized religion in their lives. Either way, in times of distress, human beings cope best when they can find greater meaning and purpose in what’s happening to them and their loved ones.6

The Terms “Spirituality” and “Religion”

The words “spirituality” and “religion” are related but distinct terms. Spirituality refers to the way in which “individuals seek and express meaning and purpose and the way they experience their connectedness to the moment, to self, to others, to nature, and to the significant or sacred.”7 Religion, on the other hand, has been defined as “a subset of spirituality, encompassing a system of beliefs and practices observed by a community, supported by rituals that acknowledge, worship, communicate with, or approach the Sacred, the Divine, God (in Western cultures), or Ultimate Truth, Reality, or nirvana (in Eastern cultures).”8

Spirituality and Health

It is well recognized that people are more than just a physical body and an intangible mind. To treat one without recognizing the needs of the other is to deal with a person as a fragmented being, not a whole, integrated person.9 Native religions10 and Eastern belief systems11 have long understood that humans are an interconnected system of body, mind, and spirit. In recent years, Western medicine has begun to reintegrate non-medical approaches to health care such as mindfulness and meditation, recognizing that a person’s mental and spiritual wellbeing often affect their body’s ability to heal from sickness and disease.12 Spirituality is a term that has many definitions and individual interpretations,13 but for most of us, spirituality is what connects us to each other, to the wonder of creation, and to some kind of higher power. Our spirituality helps form our core beliefs about life and the value systems that we live by.

Spiritual Distress and Spiritual Wellbeing

Spiritual distress and spiritual wellbeing are clinically defined terms in health care.14 At its core, spiritual distress is “a state of suffering related to the impaired ability to experience meaning in life through connections with self, others, the world, or a superior being” (ibid). Spiritual Distress often shows up as:

•Anger at God or a Higher Power

•Loss of trust in religion or a person’s faith group

•Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness

•A sense of having nothing to hold on to

•Looking for answers to the big questions:

•“Why is this happening to me or my loved one?”

•“What did I or we do wrong?”

•“Am I or are we being punished?”

Spiritual wellbeing occurs when a person can once again experience “integrating meaning and purpose in life through connectedness with self, others, art, music, literature, nature, and/or a power greater than oneself” (ibid).

Spiritual Care and Pastoral/Religious Care in Health Care

In essence, the role of the chaplain in health care is to recognize spiritual distress in patients and families and help them move toward the potential for spiritual wellbeing, achieved through the sensitive application of spiritual or pastoral/religious care. The British National

Health Services, just like many U.S. health care systems, recognizes the importance of meeting the spiritual needs of patients during health care visits but notes an important distinction in the form that care can take.

“For some their spiritual needs are met by religious care, the visits, prayers, worship, rites and sacraments often provided by a faith leader, or representative of the faith community or belief group. Spiritual care can be provided by all healthcare staff, by carers, families and other patients. When a person is treated with respect, when they are listened to in a meaningful way, when they are seen and treated as a whole person within the context of their life, values and beliefs, then they are receiving spiritual care. Chaplains are the specialist spiritual care providers [on the interdisciplinary health care team].”15

It is important in meeting the spiritual needs of patients and their families to distinguish between pastoral care and spiritual care. Pastoral care, which includes religious care for patients with specific religious belongings, is usually provided by a practitioner or member of a person’s same religion.

For example, a Catholic patient at end of life may ask for a priest to hear their confession and give them Holy Communion. Pastoral care is always provided in the context of shared beliefs, values, liturgies, and lifestyles.

Spiritual care is person-centered care provided to meet a suffering individual’s needs in the present moment. For example, a member of a hospital’s cleaning staff finds a patient alone and crying in their room, stops what they are doing, sits down for a few minutes, and listens while the patient pours out their heart. Spiritual care is provided regardless of either person’s beliefs or worldview.

What is the Value of Spiritual Care in Health Care?

Both pastoral care and spiritual care have a place in the comfort and healing of suffering people.16 While any person may provide generalist spiritual care to another, it is the chaplain who is the spiritual care specialist on the care team, as the above quote from NHS Scotland affirms.

Decades of research studies by social scientists, physicians, chaplains, and others have shown the important correlation between attending to a patient’s religious or spiritual needs and their health outcomes.17 In addition to these and other correlations with health outcomes, other research indicates a high percentage of patients want to have conversations with their medical providers about their spiritual and religious beliefs.18 Addressing this need may improve a patient’s overall experience and satisfaction with the medical care they receive.19 Research also indicates that most patients and their family members or other loved ones appreciate chaplain visits because of the emotional and spiritual support chaplains offer, as well as their skill at helping with complex issues such as advanced directive paperwork and ethical decision-making.20

Who are Chaplains and What Services do they Provide?

Professional health care chaplains are spiritual care specialists21 who attend to the spiritual and religious needs of suffering, sick, and dying people. They champion caring for the whole person at the individual, team, and system level.22

At the individual level, chaplains offer a non-anxious, caring presence to people suffering through an anxious time or experience. Most people in crisis want to tell their story. Chaplains listen without judgment, accepting people where they are and affirming their human worth and dignity. For some people, spiritual care also includes religious support, so chaplains are familiar with beliefs and practices across many different belief systems and cultures. Their training helps them customize their approach based on what they learn about an individual’s background, age, or condition. Also, “Chaplains are well positioned to assist patients and loved ones in processing how their spiritual beliefs and practices impact medical decision making.”23

At the team level, health care chaplains function as the spiritual care specialists on the interdisciplinary team. As noted by...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 26.2.2024
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Medizin / Pharmazie ► Allgemeines / Lexika
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3509-4783-0 / 9798350947830