Through a rich variety of case studies, this book provides insight into the patient's needs and the chaplain's perspective, as well as discussions of spiritual assessments and spiritual care interventions. Case studies such as a request to baptise a child complicated due to his admission for 'psychiatric reasons', as well as work with military veterans, such as a female transgender veteran who has been alienated from her faith, show the breadth and complexity of work that chaplains undertake daily. Each section also includes critical responses to the case studies presented from a chaplain and related healthcare professional. This book will enable chaplains to critically reflect on the spiritual care they provide, and provide an informed perspective for healthcare professionals and others involved in chaplaincy services.

This open access volume is the first academic book on the controversial issue of including spiritual care in integrated electronic medical records (EMR). Based on an international study group comprising researchers from Europe (The Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland), the United States, Canada, and Australia, this edited collection provides an overview of different charting practices and experiences in various countries and healthcare contexts. Encompassing case studies and analyses of theological, ethical, legal, healthcare policy, and practical issues, the volume is a groundbreaking reference for future discussion, research, and strategic planning for inter- or multi-faith healthcare chaplains and other spiritual care providers involved in the new field of documenting spiritual care in EMR. Topics explored among the chapters include: Spiritual Care Charting/Documenting/Recording/Assessment Charting Spiritual Care: Psychiatric and Psychotherapeutic Aspects Palliative Chaplain Spiritual Assessment Progress Notes Charting Spiritual Care: Ethical Perspectives Charting Spiritual Care in Digital Health: Analyses and Perspectives Charting Spiritual Care: The Emerging Role of Chaplaincy Records in Global Health Care is an essential resource for researchers in interprofessional spiritual care and healthcare chaplaincy, healthcare chaplains and other spiritual caregivers (nurses, physicians, psychologists, etc.), practical theologians and health ethicists, and church and denominational representatives.

Wendy Cadge and Shelly Rambo demonstrate the urgent need, highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, to position the long history and practice of chaplaincy within the rapidly changing landscape of American religion and spirituality. This book provides a much-needed road map for training and renewing chaplains across a professional continuum that spans major sectors of American society, including hospitals, prisons, universities, the military, and nursing homes. Written by a team of multidisciplinary experts and drawing on ongoing research at the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab at Brandeis University, Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care in the Twenty-First Century identifies three central competencies—individual, organizational, and meaning-making—that all chaplains must have, and it provides the resources for building those skills. Featuring profiles of working chaplains, the book positions intersectional issues of religious diversity, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and other markers of identity as central to the future of chaplaincy as a profession.

These diverse case studies make a compelling case for the importance of effective spiritual care in healthcare and provide unprecedented insight into the essential role of the chaplain within the healthcare team. Presented alongside critical reflections and responses from professionals within chaplaincy, psychology, psychiatry and nursing, they provide an honest and detailed look into how healthcare chaplains actually work with the people in their care and reveal the vital role of narrative and imagination in effective transformative practice. From a 16-year-old with a belief that God would enable a miraculous recovery from paralysis, to an African man with a history of psychosis and depression whose cultural belief in witches complicated his treatment, to a dying Jewish man, aggressive and isolated due to his traumatic life experiences, each case includes insight into the patient's needs and chaplain's perspectives, discussion of spiritual assessments and spiritual care interventions, and accounts of significant encounters and dialogues. The nine paediatric, psychiatric and palliative case studies and reflections in this ground-breaking book will enable chaplains to critically reflect on the spiritual care they provide and communicate their work more effectively, help healthcare professionals develop a clearer understanding of the care chaplains deliver, and provide an informed perspective for those who develop policy around spiritual care and need to make the case for chaplaincy services.

The recent production of case studies in chaplaincy care combines the narrative nature of chaplaincy with the rigors of research demanded in contemporary care settings. The contributions in this volume from both practitioners and academic researchers join reflections on the challenges and promises of case study research in chaplaincy care with the results of specific case studies. Based on reflections on methodology and professionalization in chaplaincy, the volume hopes to contribute to answering the question of how and why chaplaincy works. As such, the book aims for a wide readership of scholars, chaplains and policy makers. Learning from Case Studies originated from the first international conference on case study research in chaplaincy care that was held in Amsterdam in 2019. “This book is a valuable Western European contribution to the international emerging fi eld of chaplaincy research.” Prof. dr. Anne Vandenhoeck, Director of the European Research, Institute for Chaplains in Health Care, KU Leuven, Belgium “This significant book represents a step-change in research into effective chaplaincy practice. Building on previous work, led by Fitchett and Nolan, chaplains and academics offer new case studies, but also develop this critically reflective approach together. Chapters on methodology show how case studies, especially when analysed comparatively, provide important evidence for how and why chaplaincy works.” Rev. Dr. Andrew Todd, Director of the Professional Doctorate in Practical Theology, Anglia Ruskin University, England “At the heart of chaplaincy are stories, and this collection combines reverence for the stories themselves alongside a critical exploration of how these cases engage with the important issues of our times: what it means to be a profession and to have a professional identity and the need for research that recognises the integral relationship between practice and evidence. This book provides a significant contribution to the current conversations in the spiritual care field.” Cheryl Holmes, OAM, CEO Spiritual Health Association, Australia

Gathering together thoughts and visions of experienced practitioners, academics, educators and strategic leaders from around the world, this edited volume sheds light on the nature of chaplaincy and its role and significance within ever-changing contemporary healthcare systems. A wide range of issues central to spiritual care delivery are covered, including reflections on what it feels like to be cared for by a chaplain through illness; the nature of chaplaincy as a profession; and how chaplains can engage with healthcare institutions in ways that have integrity yet are also deeply spiritual. The focus throughout is that chaplaincy should not only be guidance for people in distress, as a form of crisis intervention, but is rather about helping to promote wellbeing and enhance people's quality of life. Where specialisms tend to fragment systems and individuals, this book seeks to show that true health and wellbeing can only be found through a holistic approach, and shows how chaplaincy can bring this to the table. This book is for anyone who recognises the centrality of spirituality for wellbeing, and wishes to see what that might look like in practice.

Evidence-based medicine has transformed contemporary medical practice. For over twenty-five years, George Fitchett has been a pioneering advocate of the view that evidence-based spiritual care can, and should, equally transform chaplaincy. This book collects a key selection from his ground-breaking research. As models of good research practice, these papers demonstrate the real-world value of research and introduce their readers to issues that have continuing importance to spiritual care and professional chaplaincy. As such, this collection offers an ideal introduction to spiritual-care research. The collection is complemented by three essays, specially commissioned from observers well-positioned to comment on future directions for both professional chaplaincy and spiritual-care research.