Scottish Association of Chaplains in Healthcare
Scottish Association of Chaplains in Healthcare
|
|
Members of SACH
|
Scottish Journal Volume 10 No. 1 June 2007 EDITORIAL The more often I read Noel Brown's piece the more useful it seems to become to the further development of the journal. We would like to use this editorial as a call for submissions, an open invitation to all who want to write about their work in a new and fulfilling way. As Noel points out there are many different ways to write an academic article. We are looking for research, conducted and carried out in the field of spiritual care, but we are also looking for descriptive items, sharing best practice, looking at problem solving in a given area or a situation which turns up unexpectedly. We are interested in audit and analysis, in innovative practice and the problems and benefits brought by change. If that hasn't whetted your appetite we also accept educational articles, either about training you have run or to inform others, perhaps if you practise a minority faith or if you have something about spirituality or faith that you want to say. We are also looking for reflections on an issue or a series of incidents that have been concept forming, or have brought new ideas to your team which are worth sharing. Please write. The board are here to help, not to hinder. If you write an article for us, either 3,000-4,000 words for a major piece of research or analysis, or 2,000 words for a smaller essay, then send it in to the SACH email address and we will pick it up. Once we have received a piece it is anonymised and sent for review. The reviewer will not know the identity of the author, nor the author the identity of the reviewer. This part of the process may take some time, so please be patient. It is at this stage that we decide whether an article is fit for publication. That may be with a recommendation of minor corrections, or with some revision, or it may be that the reviewer doesn't think it is ready yet, but all is not lost, some more work and a re-submission is a common practice. The reviewer writes a report on a reviewer's form, and this form is returned to you for you to make any changes that you think are helpful. If you disagree strongly with a reviewer's comments get in touch with the editors to discuss the issues. Once those changes are made (and practically no-one changes nothing at this stage) then the piece is returned to the editors. It is then edited (minor typing errors, typeset) and a page proof will be returned to you for agreement that it is ready to go to print. At this stage the editors are often tight for time and it is not unusual to be asked to turn around page proofs quickly, major changes are not really a good idea once the pages of the journal have been set. Page proofs agreed, it goes to the press. You will receive complimentary copies of your published article and can get to work on the next one!! Full Text GUEST EDITORIAL Pages 2-3 It was a privilege to be invited to chair the organising group for the conference to celebrate the 10 th anniversary of this journal and to host the conference itself. To quote the commercial, the conference “did what it says on the tin”, and was a genuine celebration of one of the most respected journals in its field. It is an additional pleasure to have been invited to be guest editor of this edition of the journal which contains some of the excellent material offered at the conference.When I was a small boy I travelled regularly by train with my family on the railway line down the West Coast of Scotland between Fort William and Glasgow. It was always a great adventure, and never more so than when we stopped at the station in the little village of Crianlarich, almost at the half-way point of the journey. This was to allow the train on the up-line to pass the one on the down-line, and so the station platform stood in the centre of the station with the two lines running along either side. And the best part was judging whether you had enough time to get off the train, buy your cup of British Rail tea, and get on again before the train continued on its journey. Being too small, I was never allowed off the train. But I would have loved to be on the platform with the big people. It always seemed more exciting out there. Our celebration conference saw us stopping at our Crianlarich Station to take time to pause and reflect now a major part of the journey was over – grown-ups alighting from the train, stretching our legs, and taking refreshments on board. We've done well these past ten years. It's been a journey worth celebrating. But having taken time to buy the conference equivalent of a cup of BR tea, we now have to keep our eye on the train to make sure we're ready for the next stage of the journey of the SJHC and be safely on board for what is yet to come. So what did we find when we stopped at the platform? Of course we talked about chaplaincy in different ways, competence and compassion, the offering of the real person and not hiding behind a mask or remaining encased in a suit of armour. We remembered the importance of story, the need to listen, and to take seriously what we learn from the people in our care. And when we're on the train again? We'll keep exploring our role, our development and our professionalism. These are exciting times. We faced up to change , in a healthcare climate where it's often said that the only constant is change. Change means thinking about what needs to be renewed, how the journal needs to pick up the thinking that's been shared at the conference, and what developments need to be worked on. There's a lot of work for the Editorial Board to do. And going forward? Change is also about what needs to be left behind, what dies, what is finished and done, so that we're all the more ready to travel on. Clearly, challenge was also a theme - to work in that vulnerable place, which is often scary and precarious, inhabiting that space which others decline to enter; and to believe we have something to say and something to offer, as chaplains, through the journal, about theology, and much more. And for the next stage of the journey we take on the additional challenge of not believing we know it all or can do it all, remembering that taking the high-road of arrogance or self-satisfaction is fraught with dangers. Like the Women's Institute in England a few years ago, we have choices to face. That doesn't mean we have to choose members of the Editorial Board to pose for a tasteful nude calendar like the women of the WI, celebrated so well in the movie Calendar Girls... But we still have choices to make, about content, commissioned pieces, research articles, and the like, to make sure the standards of the journal are kept high. That's what we've always done, and, thankfully, we'll take that willingness to wrestle with important choices as we move on. Are we prepared for risks, the chances which will come our way? We took a risk starting the journal ten years ago. Clearly, it was a risk worth taking. The conference was ample evidence of that. But when we're back on board the train and more chances come our way, are we up for that? Chances to address people's search for meaning in the face of life-threatening events, not patronising them or ducking our responsibilities; chances to offer our work for public and professional scrutiny, through our journal or others, and not being ashamed of what we have to offer; chances to say what we believe, for the good of our healthcare system and for the institutional church. Dare we be risk-takers? We met with chums as we've downed our cup of tea on the Crianlarich platform. Old friendships were strengthened and new collaborations begun. Ours was an international conference. We were not on the platform alone. We had time to relax together, to share worship, to laugh and learn, to be well fed and entertained. And as the train pulls out and some of us are running to catch it before it leaves? A hand comes out to pull us aboard, and we settle down again with good people when we face the future journey together. We had time for checking things out, a necessary pause for reflection. We thought about integrity, faced up to compromise, asked – and perhaps even began to answer – important questions, and we were stimulated in our questioning and answering by some excellent contributions. Let's keep doing that so that we continue to be enlivened on the journey itself and not just on the platform when the train has stopped. Most certainly we have character . We have a respected journal. But individually too, we are characters, unique, special, valuable and valued. We have the uniqueness of our character to offer to our work, our chaplaincy, the healing for the people in our care and the brokenness of our world. Mel Schofield, our after-dinner speaker at our celebration dinner, reminded us that the Bible tells us that ‘There were giants in the land', and suggested that we might be giants as we are and where we are, and that, in our conference, we might just be sitting in the presence of giants. We have that uniqueness, that character, to take our journal forward, and for that we should never be ashamed. On the adventure of our travelling, grown ups on the platform or soon-to-be-grown-ups on the train, there is much to be enjoyed on the journey as well as just stopping for a break at Crianlarich station. But, look! Our train's ready to pull away. There's a whistle blowing, and, in the mind of a small boy on his way to his Granny's, there's a hiss of steam and a great puff of smoke. ‘All aboard', someone cries! So, wait for me, I don't want to miss the next part of this adventurous journey.
Tom Gordon is chaplain at the Marie Curie Hospice, Edinburgh, and has been a member of the SJHC since its beginnings. He was chair of the conference organising group. |
||||||||||||
|
CONTENTS Change and Challenge: the dynamic of chaplaincy Pages 4-10 Abstract: Healthcare and spirituality both address the question of what it means to be human. In answering the question both are committed to enquiry, discernment and discovery. This is the contextual space of chaplaincy and it provides a stimulating environment for understanding and practice. Part one of this paper will review some of the factors and conditions that have resulted in chaplaincy developments over the past decade. I shall consider what these changes might say about chaplaincy and what they might say about the wider contexts of healthcare and spirituality. In part two I shall outline some of the challenges that may shape the future of chaplaincy and I will be asking how chaplains may respond. Keywords: chaplaincy, health service, religion, research, spirituality, theology Mark Cobb is Senior Chaplain & Clinical Director, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. WE ARE ALL STUDENTS AND THE TEACHER IS GOD Abstract: This paper analyses the contributions to the journal over the last ten years and draws conclusions about the nature of research into spiritual care and raises some questions for the future. The Editors Key words: Chaplaincy, education, research, spiritual care. Pages 11-19 Noel Brown is a recently retired hospital chaplain and former ACPE supervisor, Chicago, USA. Celebrating 10 years of the Scottish Journal of Healthcare Chaplaincy Pages 20-22 Abstract: In the opening address of the 10th Anniversary Conference David Mitchell, retiring joint editor, reflects on the development of the journal since its inception. The content and management of the journal are explored in detail as is the international development of the journal with its world wide readership and on-line availability. The article concludes by outlining the changes and challenges for the new editorial team as they go forward into the future. Keywords: Articles, book reviews, full-text on-line, Scottish Journal of Healthcare Chaplaincy David Mitchell is a former joint editor of the Scottish Journal of Healthcare Chaplaincy (1999-2006) and is the parish minister in the charge of West Cowal, Argyll and a lecturer practitioner in palliative care. Orthodoxy or Heresy? Pages 23-26 Abstract: This essay uses this language of theological belief to examine the belief groups within the mental health system. Its purpose is to shed light from one world upon another, to investigate the relationship between chaplains, who think theologically, patients, and the professional members of the mental healthcare field. Key words: Chaplaincy, delusions, mental health, spirituality Janet Foggie is mental healthcare chaplain, NHS Tayside, Dundee. Gerontological chaplaincy: Pages 27-31 Abstract: Two recently completed studies form the basis of this article. These studies focussed on those who work with older people and older people themselves in terms of their spiritual needs and the implications of this for healthcare chaplaincy. Using the concept of successful ageing the article suggests a link between spiritual support with successful ageing and considers empirical data from residents and staff in the light of this. Staff were able to identify spiritual practices that helped them achieve balance between the demands of work and their own needs. Both groups talked about the importance of relationships with colleagues, family and friends and between staff and patients or residents. The article suggests that healthcare chaplains have an opportunity to develop particular support interventions based on researched need, for both older people and staff who work with older people and raises the question of the case for gerontological chaplaincy. Key words: gerontology, chaplaincy, spiritual care, older people, healthcare staff Harriet Mowat is a lecturer and researcher with particular interest in Spiritual Care, Chaplaincy and the care of older people. She is based in Aberdeen. Three Personal Responses TO the Hospital Chaplain's Handbook. Pages 32-35 Alister Bull, Head of Chaplaincy Services, Yorkhill Division, Glasgow. Blair Robertson Head of Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde David J. Gordon Lead Chaplain Ninewells, Royal Victoria and Roxburghe House, Dundee |
||||||||||||
Book Reviews Pages 36-39 Person Centred Dementia Care: Making Services Better Brooker, D. ISBN 1843103575 Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Theological Reflection and Education for Ministry Paver J. E. ISBN 0-7546-5754-X Ashgate
The Man Who Lost His Language: A Case of Aphasia Hale, S ISBN 139781843105640 Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Counselling for death and dying: Person-centred dialogues Bryant-Jeffries, R ISBN: 1 84619 079 7 Radcliffe Medical Press
Dealing with Death: A handbook of Practices, Procedures and Law (Second edition) Green, J. and Green, M. ISBN 1843103818 Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Writing Works: A resource Handbook for Therapeutic Writing Workshops and Activities Ed. Bolton, G., Field, V., and Thompson, K. ISBN 13:9781843104681 Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Healthcare and Spirituality Kliewer S. P. and Saultz J. ISBN 1-85775-622-3 Radcliffe |
|||||||||||||
THE ORERE SOURCE Abstracts from the Pastoral Care and other Healthcare Journals Page 40-48 The Rev. W. Noel Brown is a recently retired hospital chaplain and former ACPE supervisor. He is the Convenor of the Standards Committee of ACPE and the Convenor of the Research Committee of the Association of Professional Chaplains. He is also the Editor of The Orere Source, a bi-monthly publication of his abstracts from the pastoral care and healthcare literature. There are over 16,000 abstracts in the database. Contact: oreresource@rocketmail.comLetter from the Coordinator Page 49 Rev. Dr. Stavros Kofinas |
|||||||||||||
