Synopsis of “Body, Mind, Spirit: Hospital Chaplains Contribute to Patient Satisfaction and Well-Being” published in The Source. Part 1 was published in January 2018, part 2 was published in February 2018. The Source is a publication from The Joint Commission.
The article Body, Mind, Spirit: Hospital Chaplains Contribute to Patient Satisfaction and Well-Being uses research and observations on the training, work, and performance of Hospital Chaplains and relates that data to the chaplain’s impact on the health and welfare of patients. This two-part article delves into the important work that chaplains provide to patients and their colleagues and expounds on the benefits they provide, including positive patient experiences, improved health and wellness, family satisfaction and better work environments for staff and colleagues.
Part 1 of this article suggests that the special training that professional chaplains receive through Clinical Pastoral Education, theological studies and in some instances Board Certification makes chaplains uniquely qualified to perform a number of responsibilities that other staff are unqualified to provide.
Part 2 of the article goes further into depth about the ways that hospitals can best implement a chaplaincy program and measure the impact that the chaplain(s) have on the patients and the hospital. In the end, those hospitals that have professional chaplains on staff and have worked to systematically implement and assess their impact on the patients, families and co-workers have proven a positive return on investment when it comes to deliberate spiritual care.
Chaplains, spiritual care departments, and colleagues are encouraged to share this article and its findings with clinic/hospital/hospice/palliative care executives, administrators of their spiritual care departments, and any team that is addressing value based care models for the organization. In addition, chaplains should consider sharing this information with their team leads in preparation for a Joint Commission Survey.
APC is hopeful that the research and findings illustrated in this article will help communicate the important role chaplains have in their organizations and the value they can provide to the patients and staff.
Below is a selection of key quotes, notes and data pulled from the “Body, Mind, Spirit: Hospital Chaplains Contribute to Patient Satisfaction and Well-Being” published in The Source. Please remember to properly attribute any quotes (including the excerpts below) to the original article published by The Joint Commission, in their publication The Source.
- “Unmet spiritual needs have been associated with greater emotional distress, more pain and poorer quality of life.” – Stephen King, PhD, BCC, Manager of Chaplaincy, Child Life, and Clinical Patient Navigators, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. (“Part 1. Body, Mind, Spirit: Hospital Chaplains Contribute to Patient Satisfaction and Well-Being,” The Source, Vol. 16, Issue 1, Page 6, Jan. 2018)
- Chaplains are specifically trained to respect, assess, and fulfill the religious and spiritual needs of patients and families. (“Part 1. Body, Mind, Spirit: Hospital Chaplains Contribute to Patient Satisfaction and Well-Being,” The Source, Vol. 16, Issue 1, Page 7, Jan. 2018).
- Professional chaplains have also done training in the clinical setting, much like other clinicians,” Amy Green, DMin, director of Spiritual Care at the Cleveland Clinic. (“Part 1. Body, Mind, Spirit: Hospital Chaplains Contribute to Patient Satisfaction and Well-Being,” The Source, Vol. 16, Issue 1, Page 8, Jan. 2018)
- Chaplains also help patients and family members navigate through difficult medical choices, grounding their decision-making process in their values, beliefs, and preferences. (“Part 1. Body, Mind, Spirit: Hospital Chaplains Contribute to Patient Satisfaction and Well-Being,” The Source, Vol. 16, Issue 1, Page 8, Jan. 2018)
- When chaplains are involved in a patient’s care, their satisfaction with the overall health care experience increases. (“Part 1. Body, Mind, Spirit: Hospital Chaplains Contribute to Patient Satisfaction and Well-Being,” The Source, Vol. 16, Issue 1, Page 9, Jan. 2018)
- Chaplains who help patients feel respected and who assess and fulfill their spiritual and religious needs can be part of the plan to improve the patient experience. (“Part 1. Body, Mind, Spirit: Hospital Chaplains Contribute to Patient Satisfaction and Well-Being,” The Source, Vol. 16, Issue 1, Page 10 Jan. 2018)
- Chaplains are prepared to provide or find religious and spiritual resources for patients and family members no matter what the beliefs may be. (“Part 1. Body, Mind, Spirit: Hospital Chaplains Contribute to Patient Satisfaction and Well-Being,” The Source, Vol. 16, Issue 1, Page 10, Jan. 2018)
- Chaplains should play an integral role on the interdisciplinary care team, as required by Joint Commission Provision of Care, Treatment, and Service (PC) Standard. (“Part 1. Body, Mind, Spirit: Hospital Chaplains Contribute to Patient Satisfaction and Well-Being,” The Source, Vol. 16, Issue 1, Page 10, Jan. 2018)
- Not only can chaplains provide spiritual and religious support to patients and family members, they can also support their coworkers at the hospital…when health care providers feel cared for, they are rejuvenated and can provide better care to their patients and family members. In addition, The Joint Commission requires health care leaders to make support systems available to staff who have been involved in an adverse or sentinel event through the Leadership Standard and chaplains can play a vital part of that support system. (“Part 1. Body, Mind, Spirit: Hospital Chaplains Contribute to Patient Satisfaction and Well-Being,” The Source, Vol. 16, Issue 1, Page 11, Jan. 2018)
- Health care organizations benefit from using a standardized method to identify those patients and family members who would benefit the most from a chaplain visit. (“Part 2. Body, Mind, Spirit: Hospital Chaplains Contribute to Patient Satisfaction and Well-Being,” The Source, Vol. 16, Issue 2, Page 1, Feb. 2018)
- Whenever the patient’s prognosis and treatment plan changes throughout the hospital stay, a subsequent screening or automatic consult to the chaplain should occur. (“Part 2. Body, Mind, Spirit: Hospital Chaplains Contribute to Patient Satisfaction and Well-Being,” The Source, Vol. 16, Issue 2, Page 2, Feb. 2018)
- With the movement toward objective measurements, chaplaincy care is becoming more outcome oriented and evidence based. The Source, Vol. 16, Issue 2, Page 3, Feb. 2018)
- We know from practice and research that the kind of religious and spiritual issues that people face when living with depression or seeking recovery from substance abuse are distinct from people seeking spiritual support in palliative care. (“Part 2. Body, Mind, Spirit: Hospital Chaplains Contribute to Patient Satisfaction and Well-Being,” The Source, Vol. 16, Issue 2, Page 3, Feb. 2018)
- “Chaplains know death is a fact of life, and we are not squeamish about talking about bad news. We try to get the conversation started earlier so that people feel like they have some choices… Truthfully, patients want to talk about it more than the doctors realize.” Amy Greene, DMin, director of Spiritual Care at the Cleveland Clinic. (“Part 2. Body, Mind, Spirit: Hospital Chaplains Contribute to Patient Satisfaction and Well-Being,” The Source, Vol. 16, Issue 2, Page 3, Feb. 2018)
- And a study of family members whose loved ones had died in the ICU found that the family members had higher levels of satisfaction with their medical treatment decisions when they received spiritual care provided by chaplains. (“Part 2. Body, Mind, Spirit: Hospital Chaplains Contribute to Patient Satisfaction and Well-Being,” The Source, Vol. 16, Issue 2, Page 3, Feb. 2018)
- Furthermore, chaplains are finding ways to objectively document their outcomes to show the positive impact they have on the health care experience, including improved patient satisfaction, improved health outcomes, improved quality of life, and decreased medical costs. (“Part 2. Body, Mind, Spirit: Hospital Chaplains Contribute to Patient Satisfaction and Well-Being,” The Source, Vol. 16, Issue 2, Page 4, Feb. 2018)
