On Models of Hospital Chaplaincies: Which One Works Best for the Muslim Community?

Abstract

The Muslim community and professional chaplains associations are realizing the need for Muslim chaplains to get involved in the many institutions that require their services, such as universities, hospitals, prisons, and the military. Having observed different models by which hospital chaplaincies operate, the research presented in this article seeks to outline and examine three models of operating chaplaincy service: the chaplain-only model, the volunteer model, and the volunteer-chaplain model. While the models outlined here are restricted to hospital ministry, they might be beneficial, with varying degrees, to people engaged in other areas of chaplaincy services. This article investigates the model that might work best for the Muslim community, and ends with a summary of future steps for the proper implementation of this health care chaplaincy model.

Keywords:

• health care chaplaincy models
• Muslim chaplains
• Muslim volunteers
• spiritual care

The author thanks Dr. George Fitzgerald, Dr. Kamyar Hedayat, Rev. John Hester, Kathryn Stucki, and Ahmed Kamal Sultan Salem for reviewing the structure of this article and providing valuable insights that helped clarify the concepts presented here. The author also thanks the many Muslim patients who inspired the ideas and examples in this article.

Doha Raik Hamza was formerly Muslim Volunteer Coordinator in the Spiritual Care Service, Stanford Hospital & Clinics, Stanford, CA, USA.

Notes

1. Similar to other research trends (see VandeCreek and Burton, 2001, p. 81), “spirituality” in this article includes “religion,” and “spiritual care” includes “pastoral care.” In addition, for the scope of this article, the terms “chaplaincy” and “spiritual care” will be used interchangeably.

2. It can be argued from reviewing The Functions and Activities of Healthcare Chaplains as outlined by Vandecreek and Burton (2001), that one of those activities is “[t]raining and supervising volunteers from religious communities who can provide spiritual care to the sick” (p. 87), The author here is referring to the fact that some chaplaincies do not find it necessary to enlist help from a faith community outside the hospital; hence, the classification of the chaplain-only model.