The image many individuals may have of hospital spiritual care or chaplaincy is that of a member of the clergy, sister or layperson praying with a patient, a family or loved ones at the bedside. Today’s spiritual care providers are far more fully integrating into the multidisciplinary care team – to the benefit of patients, families, loved ones and colleagues.
Spiritual care is clinical care
The COVID-19 pandemic and peer-reviewed research have affirmed the critical role and contribution of chaplains and other spiritual care providers in caring holistically for patients, their families and loved ones, and simultaneously for hospital associates and physicians. Reflecting this new understanding, Ascension has designated the chaplain position as a clinical caregiving role. This recognition of the value of spiritual care encounters allows chaplains to interact in a more integrated manner with other interdisciplinary team members to provide deeply impactful care, support and interventions.
Chaplains provide assessments and plans of care in collaboration with other clinical staff members including doctors, nurses, and others. Like other caregivers, they make detailed notes in patient records subsequent to visits. Chaplains offer support to patients and associates for everyday needs, and also provide a supportive spiritual response to distress and trauma, including but not limited to end-of-life situations.
Our chaplains still lead prayer services, rituals, blessings, sacraments, liturgies and much more. Sometimes, they simply offer a listening ear, which can be invaluable for a patient, loved one or associate in their time of greatest need. Regardless of individuals’ faith traditions, practices or belief systems, chaplains will meet and honor them where they are to support them in their life journey, offering a word of encouragement, listening to concerns, or just sitting with someone in empathy, solidarity, and in reverence of their inherent human dignity.
More than prayer
In addition to providing prayer and being present in traumatic situations, today’s chaplains work on initiatives designed to address health disparities, improve the health of individuals and communities, reduce potentially avoidable readmissions, and more. For example:
- As an industry partner for a government program that supports the transition of active military personnel back to civilian life, Ascension provides spiritual care internship opportunities for members of the military within 180 days of their release from active duty, helping them reintegrate into the civilian workforce and potentially fill the need for chaplains in areas for which recruitment is difficult.
- Through virtual spiritual care, chaplains are able to meet those experiencing poverty and vulnerability where they are. The virtual setting allows them to provide more comprehensive follow-up care, often opening the door for consumers to share information about their lives that impacts their health – information that they might not feel comfortable sharing with a doctor.
- Chaplains are available to support members of insurance products and Medicare Advantage plans. In one case, an Ascension chaplain was referred by Care Management to a patient who was socially isolated and had chronic disease issues, but was only minimally communicative with the care team trying to address their needs. The chaplain found that the patient had little trust in the healthcare system, and had multiple social determinants that impacted their ability to receive treatment. The chaplain was able to build a relationship with the patient that increased their trust in the care team. This allowed the team to provide care and resources to better support the patient in their health journey.
- Chaplains support the Ascension Steering Committee on Workplace Violence Prevention and serve as trusted members of interdisciplinary teams that can assist in managing and de-escalating crises, as well as supporting continuous healing after traumatic incidents related to workplace violence.
- Our chaplains are addressing disparities in maternal health by providing support to high-risk patients experiencing spiritual distress; collaborating with our Community Impact team and our Community Health Ministries on maternal health programs designed to support populations disproportionately affected by poor pregnancy outcomes; and walking alongside mothers and babies during the critical first year of life to increase positive health trajectories.
Leading national change
At Ascension, we’ve studied how to make our chaplains’ patient documentation more beneficial to all of the other members of the multidisciplinary clinical care team. Our goal was to help ensure chaplains’ notes contribute to the best outcomes for those we serve. The information we gathered is helping identify and align on best practices for chaplain documentation moving forward.
In addition, working with members of our Advocacy, Insurance and Legal teams, Ascension’s On-Demand Spiritual Care team worked to secure approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for spiritual care as a primarily health-related supplemental benefit. CMS approved our request for the 2023 plan year, noting that spiritual care “is consistent with our recommendation that primarily health-related benefits be recommended by a medical professional as part of a care plan. Additionally, it also meets our definition of counseling services not covered by traditional Medicare.”
At Ascension, we continue to look for new ways to broaden and deepen the role of our chaplains and the unique and invaluable contributions they make every day for our patients, for their loved ones, and for our interdisciplinary clinical care teams. Indeed they are invaluable professional contributors to our caregiving and healing processes, and they have my utmost respect and gratitude.