{"title":"Chaplains in transition: a net workforce analysis in a southeastern healthcare organization.","authors":"Martin Shaw, Kelsey B White, Amanda N Stover","doi":"10.1080/08854726.2025.2569269","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/08854726.2025.2569269","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Workforce forecasting models are important tools for researchers and administrators to identify potential workforce fluctuations and patterns. The present study explored the trends in chaplain employment with a retrospective analysis of existing data in one southeastern hospital system. We examined hiring, attrition, and net workforce growth as comparisons, or rates, of clinical chaplains in the organization. The observed health system saw considerable growth during the study period, acquiring 17 hospitals (2013-2024) and hiring an average of 11 clinical chaplains annually. Of the 129 hires during the study period, 82 clinical chaplains were retained, representing a cumulative group attrition of 36.4%. ARIMA projections estimate modest linear declines in hiring and net workforce growth, accompanied by a slight increase in attrition from 2025 to 2029. Overall, these findings demonstrate the feasibility of this analytic approach to inform staffing strategies and service delivery models for chaplaincy and spiritual care.</p>","PeriodicalId":45330,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy","volume":" ","pages":"1-15"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145239692","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":"The leadership of interfaith hospital chaplains during the COVID-19 pandemic.","authors":"Zachary C Wooten, Jocelyn Brown","doi":"10.1080/08854726.2025.2565114","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/08854726.2025.2565114","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The COVID-19 pandemic impacted healthcare leadership, but much of the academic focus on leadership research has been on public health professionals and policymakers. Less attention has been given to the leadership roles of interfaith hospital chaplains. This study explores how interfaith hospital chaplains enacted leadership throughout the pandemic, focusing on their personal experiences, practices, and challenges. Utilizing Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), the study involved in-depth interviews with ten interfaith chaplains from U.S. hospitals, all with at least six months of service during the pandemic. Chaplains demonstrated leadership through relationality, crisis management, and emotional support for patients, staff, and families. Their leadership was often under-recognized yet critical in navigating both the personal and collective trauma induced by the pandemic. The study underscores the evolving role of chaplains as essential healthcare leaders and highlights implications for future research and practice in interfaith chaplaincy leadership.</p>","PeriodicalId":45330,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy","volume":" ","pages":"1-17"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145233745","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":"Special issue: Healthcare chaplaincy in a pluralistic context.","authors":"Jason A Nieuwsma","doi":"10.1080/08854726.2025.2569287","DOIUrl":"10.1080/08854726.2025.2569287","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45330,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy","volume":" ","pages":"237-238"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145281296","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}
Annemarie Foppen, Iris R Wierstra, Anke I Liefbroer, Lenneke Post, Erik Olsman
{"title":"Opening up the black box of chaplaincy: a qualitative study into the reported workings of a narrative and interfaith spiritual care intervention in palliative care at home.","authors":"Annemarie Foppen, Iris R Wierstra, Anke I Liefbroer, Lenneke Post, Erik Olsman","doi":"10.1080/08854726.2025.2471739","DOIUrl":"10.1080/08854726.2025.2471739","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study investigated the reported workings of a narrative and interfaith spiritual care intervention in palliative care at home called \"In dialogue with your life story.\" It was developed to address clients' spiritual needs in the religious plural context of the Netherlands. Thus far, how the intervention impacted clients' spiritual well-being remained a black box. A thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with and workbooks of clients (<i>N</i> = 75) and chaplains (<i>N</i> = 33) indicated seven intervention elements that promoted clients' spiritual well-being in four ways: (1) they offered new insights and a better overview, (2) provided a place to connect and share experiences, (3) helped to reach deeper layers of meaning, and (4) brought out feelings of calmness and gratitude. The findings shed light on the intervention's black box and encourage further exploration of associations between chaplaincy goals, processes, and outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":45330,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy","volume":" ","pages":"261-276"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143617547","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}
X J S Sujin Rosie, Anja Visser, Annelieke Damen, Erik Olsman, Carmen Schuhmann, Gaby Jacobs, Marjo van Zundert, Hanneke Muthert
{"title":"Goals and outcomes of chaplaincy in varying outpatient, primary, and community care contexts.","authors":"X J S Sujin Rosie, Anja Visser, Annelieke Damen, Erik Olsman, Carmen Schuhmann, Gaby Jacobs, Marjo van Zundert, Hanneke Muthert","doi":"10.1080/08854726.2025.2507411","DOIUrl":"10.1080/08854726.2025.2507411","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Several studies have examined the goals and outcomes of chaplaincy within institutional settings. Our study contributes to the literature by examining whether chaplaincy goals and outcomes are specific to different outpatient, primary, and community care contexts. We conducted a round of 9 and one of 8 focus groups, with clients, chaplains, and other professionals from five contexts: the Dutch earthquake zone, general healthcare, pediatric palliative care, care for the unhoused, and veteran care. Using an explorative, descriptive and quantitative design, 77 goals and 59 outcomes are compared and categorized in a four-quadrant framework. Our findings show few differences between goals and outcomes of different contexts. However, the goals of care for the unhoused and veterans focus more on the inner experience of the relationship with the chaplain. Non-context-specific goals and outcomes might be related to how chaplaincy is approached, and the context-specific ones to existential concerns in the care contexts.</p>","PeriodicalId":45330,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy","volume":" ","pages":"246-260"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144152342","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":"Chaplaincy in a pluralistic context.","authors":"Anja Visser, Auli Vähäkangas, Naveed Baig, Karsten Flemming Thomsen","doi":"10.1080/08854726.2025.2569223","DOIUrl":"10.1080/08854726.2025.2569223","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Modern society is characterized by pluralism. We examine how chaplaincy encounters pluralism and what this might mean for chaplaincy and chaplaincy education. Religious pluralism impacts both how the profession is organized and how it is practiced. Financial and legislative structures play an important role in creating space for religious pluralism in chaplaincy. This intersects with \"professional pluralism\" within spiritual care. In many countries, spiritual care is increasingly considered a responsibility of a wide variety of healthcare professionals. This requires interprofessional collaboration in which different understandings of and approaches to spirituality and spiritual care need to be made explicit and negotiated. For chaplaincy and chaplaincy education, this has five important implications: a) developing interfaith competence as a Core Professional Skill; b) building a shared professional identity while honoring diversity; c) mastering interprofessional collaboration; d) addressing structural inequalities and power dynamics; and e) embracing both generic and specialized approaches to spiritual care.</p>","PeriodicalId":45330,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy","volume":" ","pages":"239-245"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145281243","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":"The role of pluralisms in the positions and functions of chaplains in Dutch outpatient, community or primary care settings: secondary analysis of a multi-method comparative case study project.","authors":"Anja Visser, Hetty Zock","doi":"10.1080/08854726.2025.2471741","DOIUrl":"10.1080/08854726.2025.2471741","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The transition from inpatient spiritual care to spiritual care in outpatient, community or primary care settings presents various challenges to chaplains. We have examined how chaplaincy organizations navigate different types of pluralism to find their function and position in these settings. Secondary analysis was performed on 37 thick descriptions of chaplaincy organizations, focus group discussions with three of these organizations, and 24 client questionnaires. The results show that the organizations have to navigate religious pluralism, pluralism in health care professions, and pluralism in patient populations with their associated variety in financial arrangements. Therefore, the chaplains adjust their activities to the care landscape present in their region. They also adjust their communication style to the understanding of spirituality and the communication style of the care profession and financers they are in contact with. Through showing themselves and their work, they slowly build trust, durable working relationships, and a broader profile.</p>","PeriodicalId":45330,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy","volume":" ","pages":"313-328"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143574280","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}
Shanti Bolt, Suzanne Metselaar, Tonke Versteeg, Charlotte Kröger
{"title":"Addressing spirituality-related moral challenges in palliative care: perspectives of spiritual counselors.","authors":"Shanti Bolt, Suzanne Metselaar, Tonke Versteeg, Charlotte Kröger","doi":"10.1080/08854726.2025.2471740","DOIUrl":"10.1080/08854726.2025.2471740","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Spiritual beliefs are increasingly important toward the end-of-life as they shape perspectives on good care, life, and death. However, in pluralistic societies, the spiritual beliefs of patients and care providers may differ. Care providers can find it difficult to be responsive to spiritual diversity and to how different belief systems of patients and their families may influence perspectives on care and dying. This can lead to moral challenges. Dialogical clinical ethics support (CES) helps care providers to jointly reflect on and deal with moral challenges. However, while spirituality shapes perspectives on good care, it is rarely addressed explicitly in CES sessions. We interviewed ten spiritual counselors of different denominations in The Netherlands to explore spirituality-related moral challenges in the delivery of palliative care, and to gain insight into their perspectives on what is needed to make both dialogues with patients and family and dialogical CES more responsive to spiritual diversity.</p>","PeriodicalId":45330,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy","volume":" ","pages":"292-312"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143543730","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}
Ane Inger Bondahl Søberg, Lars Danbolt, Hans Stifoss-Hanssen
{"title":"Existential care in a pluralistic healthcare context: Hospital Chaplains' reflections on their practice in supporting patients at risk of suicide.","authors":"Ane Inger Bondahl Søberg, Lars Danbolt, Hans Stifoss-Hanssen","doi":"10.1080/08854726.2025.2564598","DOIUrl":"10.1080/08854726.2025.2564598","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article examines how hospital chaplains in Norwegian specialist healthcare support patients at risk of suicide, with particular attention to existential care within a pluralistic society. Based on qualitative data from four focus group interviews involving 16 chaplains across somatic and psychiatric units, the study explores how chaplains understand, experience, and reflect on their role in existential conversations. Three main themes emerged: the chaplains' theological and worldview profiles, their openness to diverse worldviews, and the dilemmas they face in balancing professional identity with interdisciplinary expectations. The findings highlight chaplains' capacity to create meaningful, non-judgmental spaces for dialogue, where suffering and hope can be explored. However, the absence of explicitly articulated frameworks may limit their visibility and integration in interdisciplinary care. The study underscores the importance of clarifying the chaplain's role in modern healthcare and developing shared professional language to strengthen existential care for patients in crisis.</p>","PeriodicalId":45330,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy","volume":" ","pages":"277-291"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145233811","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}
Karen K Heistand, Maureen J Cleverley, Valerie DeCora Guimaraes, Samantha Nichols, Jacek T Soroka, Mary M Triplet, Morris D Wakeley
{"title":"American Indian smudging in hospital settings: a qualitative case study.","authors":"Karen K Heistand, Maureen J Cleverley, Valerie DeCora Guimaraes, Samantha Nichols, Jacek T Soroka, Mary M Triplet, Morris D Wakeley","doi":"10.1080/08854726.2025.2481815","DOIUrl":"10.1080/08854726.2025.2481815","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Smudging is a spiritual custom extensively practiced by American Indians, yet little is known about smudging in hospital settings. To better understand the spiritual needs of hospitalized American Indian patients, we performed a qualitative, exploratory, and cross-sectional study, consisting of semistructured interviews with nine hospitalized American Indian patients. We identified four major themes: accessibility, role of chaplains/staff, experiences of the ritual, and cultural connection. Smudging is an important component of holistic health care, contributing to patient well-being and satisfaction. .</p>","PeriodicalId":45330,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy","volume":" ","pages":"175-182"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143701749","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}