Hospital-based spiritual care: what matters to patients?

Abstract

Demographic changes in Australia have led to an increase in both religious diversity and the number of people who do not nominate a faith affiliation at hospital admission. Models of chaplaincy have shifted from clerical and largely male to an increasingly skilled and diverse spiritual care workforce appointed directly by health services. This study uses survey and in-depth interview methods at an inner-city Australian hospital to examine patient preferences for hospital chaplaincy provided by faith communities, and the importance of faith affiliation compared to other spiritual care provider characteristics. Survey results indicate that of 110 respondents, a high proportion (74%) prefer spiritual care to be provided by a person of the same faith. However, when considered relative to other characteristics, faith affiliation was not as important as kindness, listening skills and a non-judgmental attitude. Our findings have implications for workforce planning and educating. Further research in different settings and with different populations will make the findings more generalizable.

Keywords:

• Faith affiliation
• hospital spiritual care
• patient preference

Acknowledgement

This paper and the research behind it would not have been possible without the support of a number of people. We acknowledge the contributions of our colleagues and partners: Bruce Rumbold (and La Trobe University as partner), Jessica Connor-Kennedy (Barwon Health), David Paterson (Northern Health), Sacha McDonald (Western Health), Julie Binstead (Eastern Health), Wendy Dagher (School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University) and Heather Tan (Spiritual Health Association). We would also like to acknowledge the volunteers at the Royal Melbourne Hospital who assisted with data collection and the patients who kindly participated.

Disclosure statement

Funding for this project was provided by Spiritual Health Association (SHA) and the fifteen faith communities who are members of SHA. The project was completed in collaboration with La Trobe University.

Notes

1 All names are pseudonyms.