International Study of Chaplains’ Attitudes About Research

A mixed-method evaluation of implementation determinants for chaplain intervention in a hospital setting

Healthcare chaplains address broad social and emotional dimensions of care within a pluralistic religious landscape. Although the development and evaluation of chaplaincy interventions has advanced the field, little research has investigated factors influencing the implementation of new chaplain interventions. In this mixed-method study, we examined attitudes about evidence-based interventions held by chaplain residents (n = 39) at the outset of an ACPE-accredited residency program in the southeast United States. We also used semi-structured interviews (n = 9) to examine residents' attitudes, beliefs, and decision-making processes after they trained in the delivery of a novel manualized intervention, Compassion-Centered Spiritual Health (CCSH). Most residents reported favorable attitudes toward manualized approaches prior to training. Interviews revealed complex decision-making processes and highlighted personal motivations and challenges to learning and implementing CCSH. Implementation science can reveal factors related to motivation, intention, and training that may be optimized to improve the implementation of healthcare chaplaincy interventions.

The perceived impact of being a chaplain-researcher on professional practice

As research has become part of chaplaincy, many chaplains become involved in research, often in the double-role of chaplain-researcher. Despite the increase of involvement in research, how conducting research benefits chaplains' professional care for clients has not been studied. The present study aimed to describe how chaplains perceive the impact of participation in the Dutch Case Studies Project (CSP) on their professional expertise and positioning in the institution. A survey was distributed among participants of the CSP (N = 50) and was completed by 48 participants. We found that participation in research contributed to the expertise of chaplains (e.g., its goal-orientation, the use of theory and method) and their positioning as they try to legitimate their profession. This study thus substantiates the presumption that chaplains' engaging in research as chaplain-researcher contributes to the perceived improvement of the quality of chaplaincy care and its legitimation.

Spirituality and Chaplaincy Supporting ICU Survivorship: A Practical Overview and Strategy for Clinicians

This overview of the current literature of spirituality and health and the role of professional chaplains specifically considers intensive care unit survivorship, instead of the more common focus on end-of-life circumstances or family support on an ICU. The purpose is to enhance clinicians' understanding and use of spiritual resources for patient care and outcomes. It is a product of comprehensive daily monitoring of the Medline database from 2002 to 2022 for all publications indexed by the terms "spiritual," "religion," and "chaplain." A case will be used throughout, to illustrate spirituality dynamics. Also, a practical strategy, developed by the authors from clinical experience, will be outlined for clinicians' spiritual support of patients, requiring little time or specialized knowledge and avoiding the blurring of professional roles and boundaries, while potentially yielding clinical benefits suggested in the medical literature.

Research attitudes, practice and literacy among Kenyan palliative care healthcare professionals: an observational, cross-sectional online survey

BACKGROUND

While research is needed to advocate for implementation of global agendas to strengthen palliative care, healthcare professionals' research literacy must improve to bridge the gap between evidence and practice. A resurgent focus on North-South power disparities, means attention should also focus on understanding low- and middle-income countries' local agency to implement palliative care research agendas.

METHODS

An observational, cross-sectional online survey among Kenyan palliative healthcare professionals currently working at any of the palliative and hospice care organizations operational during January - December 2019, using descriptive statistics.

RESULTS

Among the 93 survey respondents, participants were mainly nurses (50.54%; n = 47). Regarding research attitudes: all agreed/strongly agreed research was important for their professional work. Over nine-tenths (91.21%; n = 83) reported having the skills to conduct research, and 91.30% (n = 84) wanted to conduct research in their clinical work. 90% (90.21%; n = 83) reported supervisory support to conduct research. A comparable proportion (90.22%; n = 83) would undertake research if they could find funding. Regarding research practice: over two-thirds (70.65%; n = 65) reported ever having had a mentor who encouraged them to do research, while approximately half (50.59%; n = 43) reported reading evidence-based journal articles about once per month and attending monthly in-house meetings on palliative care (56.79%; n = 46). Regarding research literacy: while over two-fifths of respondents described their current research literacy level as 'none' or 'beginner' (44.56%; n = 41), a comparable proportion described it as 'intermediate' (45.65%; n = 42), with 9 (9.78%) stating it was 'advanced'.

CONCLUSION

The majority of palliative healthcare professionals report having interest, skills and support at work to conduct palliative care research, with a low-to-medium level of research literacy. The current study explored palliative care staff attitudes to, experience in, and literacy with the research process, which is necessary to creating a dialogue on implementing research findings. This study also adds to the global empowerment agenda, addressing inequities in research opportunities and local capacity to own and undertake palliative care research.

Professional development for spiritual care practitioners: a program review

Professional development is a crucial aspect for further successful progression of an individual's skills and effective function in their role. It is also a compulsory part of registration for most professionals in the health care sector. This article reports on the evaluation of a monthly professional development program, specifically for spiritual care practitioners, offered over the period 2017-2019 by Spiritual Health Association (Victoria, Australia) and its partners. Many common themes such as motivation, culture, purpose and areas for improvement have been identified and are further examined. Recommendations such as greater emphasis on the professionalism in the sector, broader inclusions of sessions across culture and ethnicity and the development of cross disciplinary communication skills are made for the future of this program.

A spiritual care intervention for chaplains in home-based palliative care: design of a mixed-methods study investigating effects on patients' spiritual wellbeing

Recently, the call for chaplains to become 'research literate' has been recognized by various scholars as well as by practitioners in the field. However, papers that present and discuss the study design and provide guidance on the methodology of chaplaincy research are scarce. The aim of this study is to present the design of a mixed-methods study that investigates the impact of a spiritual care intervention on patients' spiritual wellbeing in palliative, home-based care. It reports on the steps needed to conduct such a study in chaplaincy care, and describes and discusses the study's research design, intervention, participants, sampling strategy, patient and public involvement, procedure, ethical considerations, data collection, and analysis. Presenting and discussing such a design is not only useful for researchers before conducting their study, in order to create transparency, but also for chaplains to improve their knowledge on research methodology and research literacy.

Mapping the Healthcare Chaplaincy Literature: An Analytical Review of Publications Authored by Chaplains and Theologians Between 2000 and 2018

The body of theoretical and empirical research led by chaplains and theologians between 2000 and 2018 is developing into a rich, diverse, and methodologically rigorous healthcare chaplaincy literature, which this review proposes to map. Online keyword and bibliographical searches and specialist recommendations yielded 199 relevant publications, which we analyzed in terms of methodology, topic, and results. On this basis, this article identifies and describes five key areas of the literature: chaplains' practices, spirituality, research, impact, and healthcare professionals' practices of spiritual care. The discussion further highlights that publications would benefit from greater conceptual clarity, common research standards, and more critical research designs.

Toward a Fully Fledged Integration of Spiritual Care and Medical Care

In this article, we aimed to set out current problems that hinder a fully fledged integration of spiritual and medical care, which address these obstacles. We discuss the following five statements: 1) spiritual care requires a clear and inclusive definition of spirituality; 2) empirical evidence for spiritual care interventions should be improved; 3) understanding patients' experiences of contingency is paramount to deliver effective spiritual care; 4) attention to spiritual needs of patients is a task for every health care practitioner; 5) courses on spirituality and spiritual care should be mandatory in the medical curriculum. Current problems might be overcome by speaking each other's language, which is crucial in interdisciplinary research and in good interdisciplinary collaboration. Using a clear and inclusive definition of spirituality and substantiating spiritual care using medical standards of evidence-based practice is a way to speak each other's language and to increase mutual understanding. Furthermore, including spirituality in the medical curriculum would raise awareness of medical practitioners for their task of attending to patients' spiritual needs and, subsequently, to better and more appropriate referral for spiritual care.

Recent Progress in Chaplaincy-Related Research

In light of the continued growth of chaplaincy-related research this paper presents an overview of important findings. The review summarizes research in six broad areas: what chaplains do; the importance of religion and spiritual care to patients and families; the impact of chaplains' spiritual care on the patient experience; the impact of chaplain care on other patient outcomes; spiritual needs and chaplain care in palliative and end of life care; and chaplain care for staff colleagues. It concludes with a description of several innovative and important new studies of chaplain care and notes areas for future investigation.