Spiritual Care Champions 2012 – 2014
A National Spiritual Care Collaborative
All calls are Noon (EST) – 9:00 am (PST)
I. Health Care in the 21st Century
Coordinators: Alan Bowman Rose Shandrow, MDiv
VP, Ministry Formation System Director, Mission Operations
Catholic Health Initiatives & Spiritual Care
Denver, CO Franciscan Health System Tacoma, WA
1. Healthcare Delivery in the 21st Century (April 11th, 2012)
An introduction to the major shifts occurring in U.S. health care, including its delivery, payment, technology, and other considerations in reference to healthcare reform and related trends. The presentation will be given in light of how this new environment will shape spiritual care.
2. Spiritual Care in the 21st Century (May 16th, 2012)
A more in-depth look at the challenges and opportunities for spiritual care in the 21st century, including how spiritual care will be delivered, in what settings, and the implications these shifts will have on the competencies and skills set required of chaplains. First-step suggestions will be provided for how chaplains can begin to make this adjustment and learn new skills.
3. Providing Interdisciplinary Spiritual Care (June 13th, 2012)
Spiritual support has never been exclusive to chaplains. Rather, it is a shared responsibility. This presentation will be an interdisciplinary panel/discussion that covers how other members of the health care team can provide basic spiritual care support in light of the changes discussed in the previous two presentations, and how chaplains may assist in the process. Current examples of interdisciplinary support may be addressed (e.g. cancer support groups, transplant support groups).
II. Developing a Spiritual Plan of Care
Coordinator: Tim Serban
VP Mission Integration & Spiritual Care
Providence Health & Services Northwest Washington Region
Everett, WA
4. Assessment & Documentation (July 18th, 2012)
This presentation will give an overview of the latest trends and techniques in making spiritual care assessments and documenting spiritual care encounters. More specifically, it will address the balance (and conflicts that may arise) in initiating and promoting quality conversations with the increasing pressure to record and provide meaningful data. This presentation will also address the competencies and skills needed by chaplains to accomplish this delicate balance.
5. Communicating the Spiritual Care Plan: Chaplain as Educator (August 15th, 2012)
Not only must chaplains accurately and sufficiently assess a patient’s and/or family’s spiritual care needs, chaplains also must be able to translate and communicate these needs to others involved in the patient’s care. This presentation addresses how to communicate these spiritual needs to the interdisciplinary team, including what information each profession (physician, nurse, etc) needs, and how it can be communicated effectively by chaplains.
6. Integrating into a Holistic Plan of Care (September 12th, 2012)
This presentation will include an interdisciplinary panel/discussion of how patient/family spiritual care needs may be integrated into an overall plan of care. Examples of how this integration already occurs will be given (e.g. palliative care teams, mental health teams, organ transplant teams).
III. Spiritual Care and Cultural Competencies
Coordinator: Beth Lenegan PhD, BCC
Director Pastoral Care
Roswell Park Cancer Institute
Buffalo, NY
7. Joint Commission and Cultural Competencies: A Roadmap (October 10th, 2012)
An introduction and overview of the Joint Commission 102-page document, “Advancing Effective Communication, Cultural Competency, and Patient-and Family-Centered Care: A Roadmap for Hospitals”. The presentation will highlight the standards and roadmap of this report with specific attention to chaplains and spiritual care.
8. Developing Cultural Competencies in Spiritual Care (November 14th, 2012)
Being culturally proficient does not entail having a thorough working knowledge of all cultures, customs, and religions. This presentation will address what “culturally competent” means for chaplains, how chaplains can become culturally competent, what skills are required, and what resources are available for more information and education.
9. Diversity of Customs and Rituals (December 12th, 2012)
Part of cultural competence entails making appropriate accommodations to the individual rituals and customs of patients and families. This presentation will be an interdisciplinary panel/discussion of various examples of such accommodations and how they were accomplished, while respecting the needs and comfort level of staff members involved in the patients’ care (including establishing and maintaining suitable boundaries).
IV. Ethics of the Profession of Spiritual Care
Coordinators: Philip Boyle, PhD David Lichter. D. Min.
VP, Mission & Ethics Executive Director
Catholic Health East National Association of Catholic Chaplains
Philadelphia, PA Milwaukee, WI
10. Introduction to SCC (Spiritual Care Collaborative) Code of Ethics (January 16th, 2013)
Most chaplains have at least seen the code of ethics. This presentation will give an overview of the code, its principles, and how to access it. The presentation also will give a brief history behind the code, with the goal to give chaplains a basic working knowledge of its principles and how to apply them in everyday practice.
11. Key Ethical Issues in Chaplaincy (February 13th, 2013)
As health care moves away from the acute setting, ethical issues will arise more from an ongoing “ethics of everyday living”, rather than an event-based ethics (e.g. life sustaining treatment). Concerns regarding confidentiality, professional boundaries, and safety, which have always been present in chaplaincy, will become more pronounced in an “ethics of everyday living.” This presentation will give an overview of these ethical challenges and steps chaplains can take to mitigate them.
12. Ethics and the Interdisciplinary Team (March 13th ,2013)
The chaplain code of ethics applies to the chaplain’s interactions with other healthcare professionals as well as patients and families. Given that chaplains provide spiritual support to interdisciplinary teams, concerns such as confidentiality and professional boundaries in these interactions as well. This presentation will be an interdisciplinary panel/discussion of the key ethical challenges that arise for chaplains in interdisciplinary relationships and step chaplains can take to mitigate them.
V. Spiritual Care for Staff Members and the Organization
Coordinators: Laura Richter Mary Lou O’Gorman, M.Div., BCC
Director, Mission Integration Director of Pastoral Care and CPE
Ascension Health Saint Thomas Hospital
St. Louis, MO Nashville, TN
13. Organizational Spiritual Care (April 10th, 2013)
If it has not occurred already, chaplains will become a source a spiritual support for organizations. This presentation will address the question of what it means to be a spiritual care leader for an organization, the organizational issues that typically arise which require spiritual support, and the chaplain’s role in addressing the organization’s spiritual needs (including a basic understanding of the environment and culture of organizations). It will also address the competencies and skills needed by chaplains to fulfill this role.
14. Care for the Caregivers (May 15th, 2013)
Besides patients, families, and organizations, chaplains already find themselves providing spiritual care to members of the interdisciplinary team, albeit moral distress, secondary stress, or compassion fatigue. This presentation will give an overview of the chaplain’s role in providing spiritual support to other professionals involved in a patient’s care, including the unique competencies and skills chaplains need in contrast to providing support to patients and families.
15. Spiritual Care Practices for the Organization and Staff (June 12th, 2013)
This presentation will be an interdisciplinary panel/discussion of the various practices that offer spiritual support to organizations and caregivers, such as rituals, blessing, debriefings, and discernments. Specific examples will be presented and discussed.
VI. Spiritual Care Interventions & Outcomes
Coordinator: TBD
16. Evidence Based Spiritual Care and Quality Improvement (July 17th, 2013)
This presentation will be an overview of the latest developments to improve the quality and effectiveness of spiritual care. The presentation will address choosing appropriate and effective markers, how to measures them, and how to translate them for measures of success, including examples of tools and measures that already exist.
17. Current Research and Trends in Spiritual Care (August 14th, 2013)
This presentation gives an overview of the latest trends and developments in spiritual care research, what the research demonstrates about the need and value of spiritual care, what it says about spiritual care methods and delivery, and how chaplains can utilize the research to improve their services. Examples will be presented.
18. Positioning Spiritual Care into Interdisciplinary Research (September 11th, 2013)
Spiritual care research is not done exclusively within spiritual care. Spiritual care is also integrated into other ongoing medical research. This presentation will be an interdisciplinary panel/discussion about the integration of spiritual care into other funded medical research. Successful examples will be presented, such as studies demonstrating improved clinical outcomes with integrated spiritual care services (e.g. cancer research, heart failure).
VII. Spiritual Care in Specialized Settings
Coordinator: Alan Sanders, PhD
Director, Ethics
Catholic Health East
Philadelphia, PA
For each setting below, participants will be able to identify and understand:
1. Unique features
2. Distinct spiritual care interventions/needs
3. An appropriate spiritual care delivery model
4. Special competencies required of chaplains
5. Unique challenges or barriers for spiritual care
6. Specific issues (confidentiality, boundaries, etc.)
7. Existence/appropriateness of any group work
8. Interactions (face-to-face, phone, email, etc.)
19. Outpatient Centers (October 16th, 2013)
20. Mental Health (November 13th, 2013)
21. Veterans Services (December 11th, 2013)
22. Long-term Care (January 15th, 2014)
23. Home Health (February 12th, 2014)
VIII. Conclusion (March 12th, 2014)
TBD
24. Reflection and Look to the Future
Specific content to be determined, based on the discussion, questions, and direction of the last two years depicted above. Considerations may include providing an overall summary of themes, strategy for next steps, and opportunities for future growth.
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Spiritual Care Champions 2012-2014