Elizabeth Larson, Gary W Creech, Karen Heistand, Laura A Lovejoy, Kelly Morse M Nowicki, Jacek T Soroka, Dawn R Vlasaty
{"title":"An intervention to reduce burnout and fatigue of health care chaplains: a pilot study.","authors":"Elizabeth Larson, Gary W Creech, Karen Heistand, Laura A Lovejoy, Kelly Morse M Nowicki, Jacek T Soroka, Dawn R Vlasaty","doi":"10.1080/08854726.2026.2663701","DOIUrl":"10.1080/08854726.2026.2663701","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Spiritual care providers in health care settings experience high levels of stress, burnout, and compassion fatigue. In this study, we investigated the effects of self-directed activity to address chaplains' fatigue. The study also identified chaplains' preferences for dedicated time, the effects of such an activity, and the contribution of this intervention for well-being and work productivity. Eighteen chaplains participated in the study. Data were collected through a post-intervention survey. Results showed that offering a specific intervention aimed at addressing fatigue and burnout had positive benefits, not only for chaplains but also for the sponsoring organization. When employees feel cared for, they become more productive and willing to accept and work through challenges experienced by the organization such as a pandemic. Investing in self-care and work-based interventions of choice could potentially benefit the organization economically and create a stronger sense of organizational loyalty and connection.</p>","PeriodicalId":45330,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy","volume":" ","pages":"340-351"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147785085","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Csaba Szilagyi, Patricia K Palmer, Amanda K Borchik, George Fitchett
{"title":"Emotional intelligence and counseling self-efficacy among clinical pastoral education students in a multicenter sample: a baseline analysis.","authors":"Csaba Szilagyi, Patricia K Palmer, Amanda K Borchik, George Fitchett","doi":"10.1080/08854726.2026.2651589","DOIUrl":"10.1080/08854726.2026.2651589","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Understanding the characteristics of students entering Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), including their baseline emotional intelligence (EI) and counseling self-efficacy (CSE), is essential for facilitating their development. This cross-sectional study examines demographic characteristics, EI, and CSE among 274 CPE students across 29 CPE centers nationwide. It also investigates professional and demographic factors that may predict baseline EI and CSE. We found that CSE was most strongly predicted by EI, EI was predicted by related prior work experience, and race was a predictor of both EI and CSE. These findings offer valuable insights for spiritual care education and CPE programs, highlighting the importance of curricula designed to foster emotional intelligence and promote reflective practice. Future research should explore the efficacy of specific instructional strategies and clinical experiences to enhance EI and CSE among spiritual care students, as well as the potential impact on care recipients.</p>","PeriodicalId":45330,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy","volume":" ","pages":"314-329"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147639998","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Beth L Muehlhausen, Satoe Soga, Jonatan Amaya-Villa, Charles Abuyeka, Emmanuel Nieves Aviles
{"title":"CPE cultural immersion through a country exchange program.","authors":"Beth L Muehlhausen, Satoe Soga, Jonatan Amaya-Villa, Charles Abuyeka, Emmanuel Nieves Aviles","doi":"10.1080/08854726.2026.2644797","DOIUrl":"10.1080/08854726.2026.2644797","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study evaluated a country exchange cultural immersion program for Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) students at Houston Methodist Hospital System (HM). HM has CPE programs with students in both Monterrey, Mexico and Houston, Texas, United States of America (US). Participants included 17 students from Mexico and the United States (US) who were interviewed individually or in small groups regarding their experiences with the program. Students from Mexico were interviewed in Spanish and the US students were interviewed in English. The study received institutional review board approval. All interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, with students receiving pseudonyms. The methodology utilized was qualitative interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). The research team, composed of three chaplains, one educator and one researcher, coded all interviews twice. Thirteen themes emerged leading to the overall conclusion that the program is very successful at helping chaplain students step out of their comfort zone, grow in compassion, confidence and competence when working with patients, families and staff who represent different cultures and ethnicities than themselves. Themes were matched with Association of Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE) Level IIA Outcome Indicators demonstrating that the program aids students in meeting several competencies.</p>","PeriodicalId":45330,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy","volume":" ","pages":"291-313"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147515555","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Patient preferences for healthcare chaplaincy: Insights from a representative population survey in Switzerland.","authors":"Simon Peng-Keller, Jörg Schneider, Fabian Winiger","doi":"10.1080/08854726.2026.2633973","DOIUrl":"10.1080/08854726.2026.2633973","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Healthcare chaplaincy should focus on the needs of patients. This not only applies to clinical practice, but also to institutional alignments, structural and organizational prerequisites, and public health policies. It is therefore necessary to evaluate whether the delivery of spiritual care corresponds structurally to the needs of the patient population in question. Using a representative population survey (n = 1'011), this study examines the preferences of the population in the Swiss canton of Zurich regarding healthcare chaplaincy. The survey assessed attitudes toward different spiritual care models based on a hypothetical scenario. Nearly half of the population (49.3%) wished the inclusion of spiritual/religious aspects in their healthcare during hospitalization. The most frequently mentioned reasons were the improvement of healthcare. A majority (51.9%) would like to see a healthcare chaplaincy that is part of holistic healthcare and available to anyone, regardless of religious affiliation and personal worldviews.</p>","PeriodicalId":45330,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy","volume":" ","pages":"257-271"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147272437","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Maxwell Levis, Monica Dimambro, Joshua Levy, Brian Shiner
{"title":"Evaluating chaplaincy utilization in a suicide-risk-stratified Veterans Affairs patient sample.","authors":"Maxwell Levis, Monica Dimambro, Joshua Levy, Brian Shiner","doi":"10.1080/08854726.2026.2657187","DOIUrl":"10.1080/08854726.2026.2657187","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Although chaplaincy is a key part of the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) healthcare services, few studies have investigated how classified suicide risk impacts this service utilization. Filling this gap, this study evaluates utilization patterns in a suicide-risk-stratified national sample of VA patients who died by suicide (cases), as well as suicide risk-matched patients (controls) who did not die by suicide in 2017-2018. Given overdispersion and data sparsity, the study used Bayesian Zero-Inflated Negative Binomial regression and evaluated group and risk-tier status associations. Chaplaincy utilization proportionally declined along with suicide risk; high-risk patients received significantly more care than moderate-risk patients, while moderate-risk patients received significantly more care than low-risk patients. Case and control differences were not significant. Findings support broader pattern of higher-risk patients receiving more care in general. Future investigations that include unstructured data could help contextualize case and control differences.</p>","PeriodicalId":45330,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy","volume":" ","pages":"330-339"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147699921","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Rachel Lee, Maureen Shelton, George H Grant, Jennifer S Mascaro
{"title":"Self-reflections of health care chaplain fellows: Development in self-attunement and compassion during engagement with Compassion-Centered Spiritual Health (CCSH).","authors":"Rachel Lee, Maureen Shelton, George H Grant, Jennifer S Mascaro","doi":"10.1080/08854726.2026.2644796","DOIUrl":"10.1080/08854726.2026.2644796","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) prepares health care chaplains to address the spiritual and emotional needs of diverse patients and staff by cultivating self-awareness, interpersonal and clinical skills, and resilient compassion. Some health care chaplains engage in structured fellowship activities after CPE to expand and improve their expertise in clinical spiritual care. We conducted a retrospective investigation of recurring consult case reflections from chaplain fellows (<i>n</i> = 10) enrolled in a 2-year Compassion-Centered Spiritual Health (CCSH) fellowship program. We compared the fellows' first and last 10 reflections to identify changes in the fellows' reported activities and in the language that they used to reflect on their attunement during the consults. In the last 10 reflections, fellows attributed patient distress to a wider array of sources and were more likely to report using mindful grounding and cultivating a warmhearted presence with patients. When reflecting on their self-attunement, fellows used fewer discrepancy words (e.g., <i>would</i>) and more positive emotion language in the final 10 reflections. These results suggest that fellows diversified their activities with patients and used less dichotomous thinking to discuss their attunement as they became more experienced. This research provides insight into the cultivation of interpersonal and intrapersonal skills essential for high-quality chaplaincy care.</p>","PeriodicalId":45330,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy","volume":" ","pages":"272-290"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147618988","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Unraveling impact and processes in healthcare chaplaincy. A quasi-experimental study in Belgium.","authors":"Eva Buelens, Jessie Dezutter, Annemie Dillen","doi":"10.1080/08854726.2026.2732439","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/08854726.2026.2732439","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article reflects on the complexity of evaluating impact of chaplaincy and suggest unraveling processes and outcomes of healthcare chaplaincy. Our quasi-experimental study in Belgium aims to gain insight into the impact of hospital chaplaincy on inpatients' internal processes (acceptance, positive reappraisal, hope and within a religious subgroup also Positive Religious Coping (PRC) and Negative Religious Coping (NRC)). A group of patients who met with a hospital chaplain at least once was compared to a group who either did not request a chaplain or were not referred to one. A multilevel analysis shows significant PRC improvement at follow-up for the chaplaincy care group in comparison to the comparison group. The study underscores the need for more process-outcome research in chaplaincy, using a variety of research designs.</p>","PeriodicalId":45330,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy","volume":" ","pages":"1-21"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149070276","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Michael Osnard, Claire Twose, Jacob White, Benjamin Frush
{"title":"The roles, outcomes, and perceived impacts of spiritual and chaplaincy care during and after rapid response team activations in hospitalized adult patients: a scoping review.","authors":"Michael Osnard, Claire Twose, Jacob White, Benjamin Frush","doi":"10.1080/08854726.2026.2735747","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/08854726.2026.2735747","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Hospital chaplains' roles in rapid response systems (RRS) remain undefined, and prior reviews examined family-support roles or chaplaincy generally rather than chaplain-specific roles, integration, outcomes, and evidence gaps in RRT and resuscitation settings. This review examined sources published since 2004 that addressed chaplains' involvement in RRTs. Of 1,201 records screened, six sources were included in the final analysis: two linked qualitative reports from one underlying project, one descriptive study, one implementation report, one narrative review, and one scoping review. Across these sources, chaplains most commonly provided spiritual care, communication support, and mediation between families and medical teams. These contributions were perceived to support families and clinicians and facilitate family presence during resuscitation; however, no source established causal effects or evaluated system-level or clinical outcomes. Overall, the literature describes potentially meaningful contributions while underscoring the need for rigorous research to define chaplains' role and measure their impact within RRS.</p>","PeriodicalId":45330,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy","volume":" ","pages":"1-17"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149041257","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Factors influencing inpatient palliative care chaplain clinical notes: a focus group study.","authors":"Paul Galchutt, Judy Connolly","doi":"10.1080/08854726.2026.2732438","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/08854726.2026.2732438","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Inpatient palliative care chaplains document their care through writing clinical notes in the electronic health record. The evidence shows these notes need improvement. To help chaplains communicate better through their clinical notes, this study examined the barriers and facilitators associated with this practice. Four online focus groups with 30 U.S. palliative chaplains were moderated, January-March, 2025. With a reflexive thematic analysis approach, eight themes were generated: 1) What do they need to know?, 2) Rhythm to note writing for a team, 3) We're all islands unto ourselves, 4) What is the value add that we have?, 5) None of the chaplains want to use the same thing, 6) Am I putting it in a way that that's OK?, 7) There's cross-pollination of conversations, and 8) What I do matters. To improve note writing, palliative chaplains need to build stronger intraprofessional networks and collaborate with their team members toward evidence-based integration.</p>","PeriodicalId":45330,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy","volume":" ","pages":"1-22"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149041337","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Beth L Muehlhausen, Satoe Soga, Charles Abuyeka, Jonatan Amaya-Villa, Emmanuel Nieves Aviles
{"title":"CPE cultural immersion through pairing CPE residents with local religiously diverse families.","authors":"Beth L Muehlhausen, Satoe Soga, Charles Abuyeka, Jonatan Amaya-Villa, Emmanuel Nieves Aviles","doi":"10.1080/08854726.2026.2732450","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/08854726.2026.2732450","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study evaluated a religiously diverse cultural immersion program for clinical pastoral education (CPE) residents at Houston Methodist Hospital System (HM). HM has two cohorts of CPE residents each year, with one at the main hospital and the other at their suburban hospitals. Participants in this qualitative interpretative phenomenological study (IPA) included 20 residents from 2024 and 2025, who were interviewed individually regarding their experiences being paired with a host family from a religion other than their own during their residency. Fifteen themes emerged supporting the concept of the program as instrumental in equipping CPE students to become culturally/religiously humble in caring for people from multiple faith traditions. Students also identified challenges in executing the program and made suggestions for improvement. Themes were matched with Association of Clinical Pastoral Educators (ACPE) Level IIA Outcome Indicators demonstrating that the program aids students in meeting several competencies.</p>","PeriodicalId":45330,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy","volume":" ","pages":"1-25"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149009194","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}