How is spiritual care/pastoral care understood and provided in general hospitals in Victoria, Australia? – Staff perspectives

ABSTRACT

There is strong movement worldwide towards the professionalisation of spiritual care in the healthcare system, accompanied by appropriate education pathways, defining of best-practice care models, and evidence-based practice. The aim of the study reported here was to explore the understanding and expectations of healthcare service staff, across the spectrum of staffing levels, in relation to the provision of spiritual care in their facility. It utilised semi-structured interviews with 32 staff members from three large metropolitan general hospitals in Victoria Australia. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed. Overall, it was considered that spiritual care is an integral part of whole person care; more resources and in-house education of other staff are needed; and referral systems could be improved to better serve patient, family and staff spiritual care needs. Responses of clinical staff able to make referrals were compared with those of non-clinical staff who cannot make referrals. Spiritual care was regarded as important by all staff, but those who could make referrals were more likely to make specific improvement suggestions. Outcomes of this study are similar to others which have investigated these issues.

KEYWORDS:

• Spiritual care
• pastoral care
• staff perceptions
• healthcare
• whole person care
• chaplaincy

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the staff members who participated in interviews for this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributors

Heather Tan is Manager of Education and Research, Spiritual Health Association, Australia. She was chief investigator, data analyst and manager of the research project.

Bruce Rumbold is Director of the Palliative Care Unit, School of Public Health and Human Biosciences, La Trobe University, Australia. He was a co-investigator, academic consultant and reviewer for the research project.

Fiona Gardner is an Associate Professor of Social Work at La Trobe University, Australia. She was a co-investigator, academic consultant and reviewer for the research project.

David Glenister is Coordinator of Pastoral/Spiritual Care at Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia. He was a site manager for the research project.

Annie Forrest is Manager of Pastoral Services, St Vincent’s Public Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. She was a site manager for the research project.

Luke Bowen is Director of Consumer Engagement and Volunteer Services, Austin Health, Melbourne, Australia. He was a site manager for the research project and at the time of the interviews was Manager of Pastoral Care for Austin Health.