Scottish Association of Chaplains in Healthcare
Scottish Association of Chaplains in Healthcare
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Members of SACH
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Scottish Journal Volume 11 No. 1 May 2008 EDITORIAL In the 1999 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, ‘Wit' by Margaret Edson, there is a scene where a group of junior doctors crowd round the patient's bed and compete with one another in order to appear to be the most intelligent in front of their professor. Petty rivalries, hierarchies and point-scoring come to the fore, while the patient lies between them, the battleground for their confrontation. The scene is useful, in a negative way, in illustrating the effect of competition within healthcare on the care of the individual. The lure of competition is pernicious in our healthcare environments. Resources are limited, budgets are tight and at times it seems that the institutions within which we work are designed to set up and perpetuate a sense of conflict rather than a spirit of cooperation. I often contrast my first week in parish ministry with my first week in Hospital Chaplaincy. When I was inducted to my first parish just over twenty years ago, I received a call from a neighbouring minister in the town. He had telephoned me in order to wish me well, ‘but not that well!' I was a bit taken aback and asked what he meant. ‘Well, let's face it', he said, ‘We have two charges in the same town and if you do well, I'll be doing badly.' There was no sense here of being on the same team. There was no sense here of it not mattering who scored the goal as long as the ball went into the back of the net. We were on opposing teams, competing against each other and the prize was the individual who chose to attend one church as opposed to the other. My first week in Hospital Chaplaincy could not have been more different. Each day, I received a call from various chaplains around the country offering help and support through the initial settling in period. In addition to this, I was aware that I was, part of a spiritual care department and that I had colleagues in my own area of work, whose experience and encouragement was invaluable. Over and above this, I was aware that I was part of a wider healthcare team and was expected to contribute my own area of expertise to the care of the patients, their relatives and members of staff. This edition of the Journal deals largely with the theme of cooperative, multidisciplinary working. It features a brace of articles by Eleanor Williams, examining the challenge of spiritual care to doctors and making the case for even greater cooperation between chaplains and medical staff in the delivery of effective spiritual care. These articles are followed by an illustration of such multidisciplinary working in the form of a case study. This raises important questions of sharing with other healthcare workers in the care of a patient, effective involvement of different areas of a care team and, also, the possibilities for change in the latter stages of a patient's life. The final article from Australia looks at inter-faith working in chaplaincy and raises important questions once again about our attitudes to cooperation or competition, this time between our differing faith perspectives and life stances. How do we meet the spiritual needs of those whose faith of life stance is quite different to our own? If we are serious about ‘person-centred spiritual care' then there are various challenges wrapped up in that very concept. The first challenge is simply to care for the person; to have at heart the individual's best interests. The second challenge to us contained in that phrase is to place the needs of the individual centrally. In doing this, our own personal agendas are transcended and the barriers, that often have us in opposing teams outside the healthcare environment, are removed by the over-riding needs of the individual. The theme is working together, cooperation across the barriers or profession, discipline, belief or faith. The challenge is to dismantle these barriers that insidiously suggest that we are in opposing teams. The result is, hopefully, an individual who, far from being the battle-ground over which our petty rivalries, hierarchies and intra or interdepartmental conflicts are fought out, actually becomes a gift to us, the one who helps us focus on what really matters, the one who helps us achieve genuine multidisciplinary working. ReferenceEDSON, M., 1999 Wit: a Play Faber and Faber, |
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CONTENTS A SPIRITUAL AGENDA FOR DOCTORS? Abstract: : In this article the author addresses the ambivalence felt by doctors in the delivery of spiritual care. A number of issues are addressed including the place of spirituality within healthcare and holistic care, the role of the doctor in the delivery of spiritual care and the need for greater cooperation between disciplines in this area of healthcare. This is the first of two articles examining the relationship between doctors, spiritual care and healthcare chaplaincy. Key words: Spiritual Care, Holistic Care, Multidisciplinary Working, Spirituality Pages 2-8 The Revd Dr Eleanor Williams is a part-time GP in Cambridge, and was recently appointed Specialist in Clinical Communication, teaching communication skills in University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine. In 2007 she was ordained as a minister in the Church of England, serving a curacy in Ely diocese as a Minister in Secular Employment HOLISTIC MEDICAL CARE – THE ROLE OF CHAPLAINS IN A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY TEAM Abstract: Having previously looked at the need for doctors to begin to engage with a spiritual agenda with patients, and having identified that there is huge potential, but significant constraints, the unique contribution of healthcare chaplains is here considered in more detail, before examining ways in which the medical role in spiritual care can be developed, alongside closer collaboration with chaplains Keywords: Spiritual Care, Holistic Care, Multidisciplinary Working, Spirituality Pages 9-16 The Revd Dr Eleanor Williams is a part-time GP in Cambridge, and was recently appointed Specialist in Clinical Communication, teaching communication skills in University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine. In 2007 she was ordained as a minister in the Church of England, serving a curacy in Ely diocese as a Minister in Secular Employment. Cancer pain and the importance of faith in addressing suffering beyond the physical Abstract: : Inadequate response to analgesia in a patient with severe physical pain due to advanced cancer prompted exploration of psychological and spiritual contributory factors. Robust discussion with the palliative care consultant, psychiatric nurse, and chaplain resulted in psychological and spiritual wholeness and peace, and improved pain control for the remainder of her life Key Words: Total pain; spirituality; multidisciplinary working; spiritual care Pages 17-20 Stephen M. W. Hutchison is Consultant Physician in Palliative Medicine based at the Highland Hospice in Inverness. Iain Macritchie is Head of Chaplaincy Services for NHS Highland and is based at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness. Terry Veitch is Consultation Liaison Mental Health Nurse based at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness INTER-FAITH PASTORAL CARE AND THE ROLE OF THE HEALTH CARE CHAPLAIN Abstract: This paper explores the inter-faith pastoral care provided by Australian Christian health care chaplains to patients and their families of non-Christian religions in public hospitals within the culturally diverse western suburbs of Melbourne (Victoria, Australia). Chaplains completed an ‘Inter-Faith and Pastoral Care Questionnaire' followed by an in-depth interview designed to explore the strategies, techniques, knowledge and resources of chaplains ministering to adherents of traditional non-Christian religions. The majority of chaplains were found to have provided pastoral care to people of non-Christian faiths utilizing a variety of pastoral strategies. Differences were noted between Catholic and Protestant chaplains, and between lay and ordained chaplains, particularly concerning their knowledge of non-Christian faiths and their use of resources. It is argued that future chaplaincy personnel need to be better trained in order to maximize the effectiveness of inter-faith pastoral care. Key words: Inter-faith, Pastoral Care, Chaplains / Chaplaincy Pages 21-32 Fr. Ronald P. Davoren, M. Min., is the State Secretary of the Australian Health & Welfare Chaplains Association, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. Rev. Dr. Lindsay B. Carey, M.App.Sc., Ph.D., is Research Fellow in Pastoral and Palliative Care at the Palliative Care Unit, School of Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and National Research Officer for the Australian Health & Welfare Chaplains Association. He is also a Specialist Reserve Chaplain with the Australian Defence Force
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Book Reviews Pages 33-34 Autism and Loss by Rachel Forrester-Jones and Sarah Broadhurst published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London and Philadelphia 2007 .
Supporting the Child and the Family in Paediatric Palliative Care Erica Brown with Brian Wark ISBN9781843101819 |
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THE ORERE SOURCE Abstracts from the Pastoral Care and other Healthcare Journals Page 35-43 The Rev. W. Noel Brown is a recently retired hospital chaplain and former A.C.P.E. supervisor. He is 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 16,750 abstracts in the database. He can be contacted at reresource@rocketmail.com |
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