TY - JOUR

T1 - Elements of chaplaincy in Danish intensive care units

T2 - key-informant interviews with hospital chaplains

AU - Egerod, Ingrid

AU - Kaldan, Gudrun

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Critically ill patients often require spiritual counseling. In Denmark, most hospital chaplains are provided by the State Church. More knowledge is needed regarding health care chaplaincy in this semi-agnostic non-secular welfare society. Our study aimed to explore how hospital chaplains describe their role and elements of chaplaincy in relation to patient, family and healthcare professionals in Danish intensive care units. Using a multicenter qualitative design, we performed semi-structured key-informant interviews with ten hospital chaplains. Content analysis exposed elements of chaplaincy based on spirituality, rituality, neutrality, confidentiality, advocacy, and equality. Most elements are similar in other countries; the main differences are related to educational requirements, institutional integration, research activity, and documentation practice. Chaplains fill an ambiguous role, negotiating values of church and hospital. Modern chaplaincy is propelled toward professionalism, quantification, certification and evaluation. We discuss the contemporary role of hospital chaplains and the consequences of categorizing them as part of the ICU team.

AB - Critically ill patients often require spiritual counseling. In Denmark, most hospital chaplains are provided by the State Church. More knowledge is needed regarding health care chaplaincy in this semi-agnostic non-secular welfare society. Our study aimed to explore how hospital chaplains describe their role and elements of chaplaincy in relation to patient, family and healthcare professionals in Danish intensive care units. Using a multicenter qualitative design, we performed semi-structured key-informant interviews with ten hospital chaplains. Content analysis exposed elements of chaplaincy based on spirituality, rituality, neutrality, confidentiality, advocacy, and equality. Most elements are similar in other countries; the main differences are related to educational requirements, institutional integration, research activity, and documentation practice. Chaplains fill an ambiguous role, negotiating values of church and hospital. Modern chaplaincy is propelled toward professionalism, quantification, certification and evaluation. We discuss the contemporary role of hospital chaplains and the consequences of categorizing them as part of the ICU team.

KW - health care chaplaincy

KW - Hospital chaplaincy

KW - intensive care unit

KW - spiritual care

KW - spiritual health

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85111136729&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/08854726.2021.1949174

DO - 10.1080/08854726.2021.1949174

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 34284688

AN - SCOPUS:85111136729

VL - 28

SP - 540

EP - 554

JO - Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy

JF - Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy

SN - 0885-4726

IS - 4

ER -