The Evidence Based Fundamentals of Health Care Chaplaincy

A complied resource of evidence-based research validating and providing guidance for integrating spiritual care into health care settings and other whole person care situations and circumstances. A core focus of HealthCare Chaplaincy Network (HCCN) has always
been the integration of spiritual care into health care in the United
States through evidence-based clinical practice, education, advocacy,
and more. Key to our efforts has been the encouragement and
publication of research. At HCCN's first ever Caring for the Human
Spirit ® Conference in 2014, several groundbreaking studies were
presented, funded by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. At
the time, this was the first large-scale attempt at forming an evidence
base for spiritual care effectiveness in health care. Our hope was that
this conference would act as the launch pad for a rigorous new field of
long-overdue research. Since then, HCCN and its affiliates the
Spiritual Care Association (SCA) and Capstone University, have
become the major innovators and change agents in the field of modern
professional chaplaincy.
Over a five-year period between 2016 and 2021, SCA invested in the
research and publication of nine foundational white papers. These
documents explore aspects of the importance of spiritual care in
various health care settings, including hospital chaplaincy, hospice and
palliative care chaplaincy, the emerging field of telechaplaincy, the
roles of the physician, the nurse, and the social worker in spiritual
care, and more. These foundational papers have now been collected in
a single volume for ease of publication and access. Our hope is that all
chaplains, whether new or experienced in the profession, will benefit
from this work, and that some may become inspired to participate in
further research to push the field of professional chaplaincy in new
directionsThe SpiritualCareAssociation (SCA)was formed to
standardizethefragmentedfieldofprofessionalchaplaincy
trainingbyprovidingresources,education,andcertification
backedbyevidence-basedpracticeandindicatorsofquality
care.TheensuingdevelopmentofCommonStandardsand
QualityIndicatorsinspiritualcareensurethattheskillsand
performanceofSCA-trainedchaplainsandspiritualcaregivers
canbemeasuredobjectively,whichisofvitalimportanceto
hiringmanagersinallhealthcaresettings.Inaddition,new
methodsfortrainingandcredentialinghavebeendevelopedfor
severalnon-chaplain health care groups,including first
responders,physicians,nurses,socialworkers,palliativecare
andhospiceworkers,andvolunteers.TheSCA'sLearning
Centeristhemostextensiveandmostsuccessfulonline
chaplaineducationprogramworldwide,andtheSpiritualCare
Resourcesappisthefirstonlineapplicationthatgivesmobile
accesstothelatestinformationonbestpracticesinspiritual
careforchaplainsworking in health care,hospiceand
palliative care, and first responder settings.

The introduction is provided by Eric J. Hall, DTh., APBCC however the content of the book is compiled and published by HealthCare Chaplaincy Network and the Spiritual Care Association and there are numerous authors and contributors to be acknowledged and thanked for their significant work. This is truly an edition of contemporary work capturing the input of spiritual care leadership worldwide. The contribution of this omnibus of resources is still at work transforming the field and the integration of spiritual care in healthcare, first responder, military chaplaincy, nursing, social work, medical profession and more.