Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Apr;60(2):1406-1422.
doi: 10.1007/s10943-021-01191-z. Epub 2021 Feb 11.

Spiritual Care of Inpatients Focusing on Outcomes and the Role of Chaplaincy Services: A Systematic Review

Robert W Kirchoff  1 , Beba Tata  2 , Jack McHugh  2 , Thomas Kingsley  2 , M Caroline Burton  2 , Dennis Manning  2 , Maria Lapid  2 , Rahul Chaudhary  2
Affiliations

Spiritual Care of Inpatients Focusing on Outcomes and the Role of Chaplaincy Services: A Systematic Review

Robert W Kirchoff et al. J Relig Health. 2021 Apr.

Erratum in

Abstract

Objective: To identify demographic trends associated with patient utilization and healthcare provider request for spiritual care services and to describe the impact of spiritual care on the quality of life (QoL), spiritual well-being (SWB) and level of satisfaction (SAT) of hospitalized patients.

Patients and methods: A systematic search of Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Scopus, was combined with review of relevant bibliographies. A total of 464 titles and abstracts were reviewed. Data were independently extracted by reviewers according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Data on the effects of spiritual interventions on QoL, SWB and SAT were extracted, along with demographic data reflecting chaplain services. The results of the studies are presented narratively and in a qualitative manner.

Results: Observational or experimental studies investigating chaplain utilization demographics (n = 12), patient satisfaction (n = 9) and QoL/SWB (n = 3) were included. Perceived severity of illness, average length of stay and older age were consistently found to be predictors of higher need for spiritual care. Receipt of spiritual care was correlated with increased patient and family satisfaction, independent of clinical outcome. Chaplain interventions were associated with improvement in perceived QoL and SWB. In spite of this, healthcare workers rarely attempt to explore the patient's or family's need for spiritual care, with the majority of chaplaincy consults occurring in the final day of the patient's life, potentially leading to a failure to meet the spiritual needs of non-terminal patients who have spiritual trauma related to their resolving illnesses.

Conclusion: Attention to the spiritual needs of hospitalized patients is an essential yet often overlooked aspect of patient care. Chaplains serve as spiritual care specialists whose services can enhance the hospital experience, improve patient satisfaction and help to bridge potential gaps between the patient and medical providers.

Keywords: Chaplain; Pastoral care; Patient satisfaction; Quality of life; Spiritual care; Spiritual well-being; Spirituality.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Abu-Ras, W., & Laird, L. (2011). How muslim and non-muslim chaplains serve muslim patients? Does the interfaith chaplaincy model have room for muslims’ experiences? Journal of Religion and Health, 50(1), 46–61. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-010-9357-4 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Aslakson, R. A., KwekuJ Kinnison, M., Singh, S., Crowe, T. Y., & Writing, A. (2017). Operationalizing the measuring what matters spirituality quality metric in a population of hospitalized, critically ill patients and their family members. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 53(3), 650–655. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2016.12.323 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bay, P. S., Beckman, D., Trippi, J., Gunderman, R., & Terry, C. (2008). The effect of pastoral care services on anxiety, depression, hope, religious coping and religious problem solving styles: A randomized controlled study. Journal of Religion and Health, 47(1), 57–69. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-007-9131-4 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Berning, J. N., Poor, A. D., Buckley, S. M., Patel, K. R., Lederer, D. J., Goldstein, N. E., & Baldwin, M. R. (2016). A Novel Picture Guide to Improve Spiritual Care and Reduce Anxiety in Mechanically Ventilated Adults in the Intensive Care Unit. Annals of the American Thoracic Society, 13(8), 1333–1342. https://doi.org/10.1513/AnnalsATS.201512-831OC . - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Carey, L. B., & Cohen, J. (2014). The utility of the WHO ICD-10-AM pastoral intervention codings within religious, pastoral and spiritual care research. Journal of Religion and Health, 54(5), 1772–1787. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-014-9938-8 . - DOI

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources