The Specialty Chaplain on the Palliative Care Team: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Background: Spiritual care is a vital component of palliative care. Provision of specialty spiritual care is required by the guiding principles of palliative care as expressed in the National Consensus Project guidelines.

Objective: This review examines the role and duties of the specialty palliative care chaplain in contributing to the overall work of the interdisciplinary palliative care team.

Methods: The PUBMED, EMBASE, and CINAHL electronic databases were searched using identified key words including studies published between January 2008 and September 2022. Review articles met pre-established selection and exclusion criteria. A thematic approach was used to synthesize and discuss the findings in the form of a narrative review.

Results: Two main categories of articles were identified: (1) articles explicitly illustrating the tasks or duties of the palliative care chaplain and (2) case study articles including the input of the palliative care chaplain. These duties were comprehensive in nature and support the contributions of the specialty chaplain to the interdisciplinary plan of care.

Conclusion: The role of the palliative care chaplain has evolved over time as has chaplain training. Current research calls for standardizing inclusion of the palliative care chaplain on the interdisciplinary team to improve care and expand team function. Future research could examine contributions of chaplains to plan of care, the role of the chaplain in supporting the interdisciplinary team, and how the chaplain contributes to ongoing team growth.

Keywords: chaplain; interdisciplinary team; palliative care; palliative care chaplain; specialty chaplain; spiritual care.