"The Most Effective Experience was a Flexible and Creative Attitude"—Reflections on Those Aspects of Spiritual Care that were Lost, Gained, or Deemed Ineffective during the Pandemic

Abstract

This paper presents and discusses data from three of the qualitative questions in the international COVID-19 survey: What was the most important aspect of spiritual care that was lost during the pandemic? What was new to you during this pandemic? What are the new ways of delivering spiritual care you have experienced? Of these new experiences, what do you think was the most effective?

COVID-19 and Clinical Pastoral Education: How ACPE Educators Pivoted Amid the Pandemic

“…This is also consistent with the transition to virtual clinical experiences utilized by other health professions ( Augusterfer et al, 2020 ; Chandra et al, 2020 ; Diaz & Walsh, 2021 ; Hannon et al, 2020 ). Not surprisingly, the significant transition from the use of in-person spiritual care delivered by CPE students paralleled the limited patient rounding and increased use of telechaplaincy for chaplains in general ( Kwak et al, 2021 ; Snowden, 2021 ; Vandenhoeck et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Even employees such as chaplains had to be assessed for whether and how they would have direct patient access, and to which patients. Alternatives to face-to-face contact with patients and families required consideration ( Snowden, 2021 ; Vandenhoeck et al, 2021 ). With the potential for reduced access to clinical hours, program accrediting bodies needed to determine their level of flexibility in enforcing established standards.…”

Delivering Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Remotely: Educators’ Views and Perspectives During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

“…With students often removed from the clinical setting and prohibited from direct patient and family contact, educators were challenged to find spiritual care opportunities for students. Students had to shift to telechaplaincy for their clinical practice, much as professional chaplains were forced to work remotely, most often utilizing the telephone ( Vandenhoeck et al, 2021 ). This shift to telechaplaincy for training was not unlike the transition to telehealth found in the health professions ( Diaz & Walsh, 2021 ; Hoffman et al, 2020 ; Keegan & Bannister, 2021 ; Chandra et al, 2020 ; Sunavala-Dossabhoy & Spielman, 2022 ).…”

“…Many chaplains surveyed reported feeling unprepared for the considerable disruption to their usual practice. Out of necessity, they found themselves turning to previously unused technologies to maintain contact with patients and families ( Vandenhoeck et al, 2021 ; Snowden, 2021 ). One article focused on continuing education and training for chaplains, but did not specifically mention CPE.…”

Chaplain Leadership During COVID-19: An International Expert Panel

“…Whether organizational leadership or distributed leadership among practitioners, chaplain leadership may have significantly shaped how chaplains’ roles and contributions were perceived and valued and how chaplains were deployed and integrated in patient care during a global health crisis. Views regarding chaplain leadership and being led during this crisis can be found in research about chaplains’ and spiritual care services’ responses to COVID-19 ( Byrne & Nuzum, 2020 ; Desjardins et al, 2021 ; Drummond & Carey, 2020 ; Harrison & Scarle, 2020 ; Snowden, 2021 ; Tan et al, 2021 ; Tata et al, 2021 ; Vandenhoeck et al, 2021 ), and in the associated professional development recommendations ( Flynn et al, 2021 ). However, research explicitly examining chaplain leadership factors during the pandemic has not been published to date.…”