Addressing the Spiritual Care Needs of Patients with Serious Illness

The National Consensus Project (NCP) Clinical Practice Guidelines are the national standard for high quality palliative care. National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care, 2018.

From the Supportive Care Coalition. A practical model for interdisciplinary palliative care clinicians to attend to the spiritual concerns of patients.

An interactive document about current research, trends, and the importance of access to professional spiritual care.

Hall, E., Hughes, B. P., & Handzo, G. (2019). Time to follow the evidence–Spiritual care in health care. Ethics, Medicine and Public Health, 9, 45-56.

Discussion of the various ways spiritual care can help all members of the interdisciplinary team navigate sensitive conversations with patients living with a serious illness.

1) What is spirituality? 2) What methodological and measurement issues are most salient for research in palliative care? And 3) What is the evidence relating spirituality and health outcomes?

1) How do we assess spirituality? 2) How do we intervene on spirituality in palliative care? And 3) How do we train health professionals to address spirituality in palliative care?

Watch this CAPC on-demand webinar, I Don't Know What It Is You Do: The Role and Scope of the Chaplain on the Palliative Care Team.

Talk given by Denise Hess, MDiv, BCC-PCHAC (Executive director of the Supportive Care Coalition) for the Association for Professional Chaplains.

Marin DB, Sharma V, Sosunov E, Egorova N, Goldstein R, Handzo G. 2015. The relationship between chaplain visits and patient satisfaction. Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy. 21 (1):14-24.

Astrow, A. B., Kwok, G., Sharma, R. K., Fromer, N., & Sulmasy, D. P. (2018). Spiritual Needs and Perception of Quality of Care and Satisfaction With Care in Hematology/Medical Oncology Patients: A Multicultural Assessment. J Pain Symptom Manage, 55(1), 56-64 e51. doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2017.08.009

Guidance for advocacy groups, professional health care associations, health care administrators, clinical teams, clients, family caregivers, researchers, government and other funders, faith communities, spiritual care professionals and other stakeholders internationally on the indicators of quality and experience of spiritual care in health care. Healthcare Chaplaincy Network.

In this on-demand webinar, palliative care team administrators and clinicians share the ins and outs of hiring, managing, and mentoring palliative care chaplains.

From the Board of Chaplaincy Certification, Inc, affiliate of the Association of Professional Chaplains.

Definition of palliative care and how it improves quality of life for patients living with a serious illness, and their families.

Certification in hospice and palliative care is available through the the Association for Professional Chaplains (APC)

This on-demand Master Clinician session discusses a role for spiritual constructs for the idt workflow when the course isn’t clear.

A spiritual framework to utilize the Honor Commandment in palliative care decision-making.

Information from the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab on planning, staffing, and delivering telechaplaincy services.

Hire and onboard your staff, manage program operations, and ensure a healthy high-functioning team using this toolkit.

Monograph on processes that promote team health. Center to Advance Palliative Care, 2014.

Talk given by Denise Hess, MDiv, BCC-PCHAC (Executive director of the Supportive Care Coalition) for the Association for Professional Chaplains.

Online courses for palliative care chaplaincy. California State University.

MS in Palliative Care. University of Maryland Interdisciplinary Training

Certification in hospice and palliative care is available through the the Association for Professional Chaplains (APC)

Certification in hospice & palliative care.

Conversation prompts and phrases to avoid in POLST advance care planning discussions. Materials used with permission from the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California, CoalitionCCC.org.

Detailed conversation guide to improve health care professionals' comfort levels having POLST conversations. Materials used with permission from the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California, CoalitionCCC.org.

Learn techniques to help patients and their caregivers plan for the future, both during the early stages of a serious illness and as a disease progresses.

Building Physician Skills in Basic Advance Care Planning, includes three courses intended to build person-centered advance care planning (ACP) skills for physicians and advanced practitioners.

Lee, A. C., McGinness, C. E., Levine, S., O'Mahony, S., & Fitchett, G. (2018). Using Chaplains to Facilitate Advance Care Planning in Medical Practice. JAMA Intern Med, 178(5), 708-710. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2017.7961

One-page guides with actionable tips for conversations with patients with serious illness. Free to download, print and share with others.

Structured VitalTalk conversation map for late goals of care conversations.

Supporting patients and families that are hoping for a miracle. American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2014.

Assessment for suffering, distress, disconnection, or spiritual pain. Supportive Care Coalition.

King, S. D., Fitchett, G., Murphy, P. E., Pargament, K. I., Harrison, D. A., & Loggers, E. T. (2017). Determining best methods to screen for religious/spiritual distress. Supportive Care in Cancer, 25(2), 471-479.

Sample: Structured tool for assessing spiritual distress and common interventions.

Sample: Structured tool for assessing spiritual distress and common interventions

Shields, M., Kestenbaum, A., & Dunn, L. B. (2015). Spiritual AIM and the work of the chaplain: A model for assessing spiritual needs and outcomes in relationship. Palliative & supportive care, 13(1), 75-89.