What do Chaplains Do?

What do Chaplains Do?

Action, Context and Recipient

In a 2008 landmark study, Handzo et al. reported on both what healthcare Chaplains do and how those they serve receive them. This study related the activities conducted by the chaplains to the faith communities they represent, the medical status of those served, and the faith or absence thereof of those served. It considered those who had Catholic, Jewish, Islamic, Protestant, other religious, and no religious affiliations (p. 44).

Perhaps counterintuitively, the results showed that spiritual interventions were welcomed by those who specify their religion as “none” as much as those who indicated a religious affiliation. They wrote

These results seem to indicate that this patient group welcomes pastoral care and makes use of it to the same degree as patients who claim a religious affiliation.

(p. 50)

Chaplains’ Activities

This study classified the activities or “interventions" of Chaplains into those that were general in nature and those that were specifically religious.

General Activities

There were eight general activities. They were

  1. crisis intervention,

  2. emotional enabling,

  3. ethical consultation/deliberation,

  4. life review,

  5. patient advocacy,

  6. counselling,

  7. bereavement, and

  8. empathetic listening.

(p. 43)

Religious/Spiritual Activities

There were nine religious/spiritual activities. They were

  1. hearing confession or amends,

  2. faith affirmation,

  3. theological development,

  4. performing a religious rite or ritual,

  5. providing a religious item,

  6. offering a blessing,

  7. praying,

  8. meditation: and

  9. other spiritual support.

(pp. 43–44)

The results showed that regardless of the religious affiliation of those served, the chaplains conducted activities in the religious/spiritual category in somewhat less than 60% of all visits. It was noteworthy that the percentage of religious/spiritual activities conducted was the same for those describing themselves as of no religion as it was for those who reported as having a religious affiliation (p. 46)

Medical Status

Twelve categories of medical status were used in this study. These were:

The patient

    1. died,

    2. was in the process of dying,

    3. was in the end-stage of a disease,

    4. was in crisis or had a code,

    5. received a checkup,

    6. received a new diagnosis or prognosis,

    7. was being discharged,

    8. was going into surgery-pre-op,

    9. was post-op/recovering from surgery,

    10. was receiving rehabilitation,

    11. was receiving treatment, and

    12. other.

(p. 44)

The results showed that prayer, blessing and reflections relating to faith and theology were the most pronounced. Prayer was most practised with those whose status was pre-operational, end-stage, dying and in crisis. Conducting a blessing was most practised with those who were dying and undergoing treatment. Reflections on faith and theology were mot conducted with those who were undergoing rehabilitation, discharge and crisis (p. 49).

Reference

Handzo, G. F., Flannelly, K. J., Kudler, T., Fogg, S. L., Harding, S. R., Hasan, I. Y. H., … Taylor, R. B. E. (2008). What Do Chaplains Really Do? II. Interventions in the New York Chaplaincy Study. Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy, 14(1), 39–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/08854720802053853