The Chaplain

We had journal club today. The article was an interesting one, dealing with spiritual care as a dimension of palliative care, and it summarized the findings of a national consensus conference. Spirituality was defined as the aspect of humanity that refers to the way individuals seek & express meaning and purpose and the way they experience their connectedness to the moment, to self, to others, to nature, and to the significant or sacred. The importance of including a chaplain on the interprofessional team caring for the patient was emphasized. I have seen chaplains working in health care but never really understood how their role differs from that of theologians, ministers or faith-based healers etc. In Anesthesia practice, our paths usually crossed at times of tragedy, and then it was for the family, rarely the patient. I recall Father Mulcahy, the fictional chaplain from M*A*S*H and other fictional characters featured in the Doonesbury comic and a couple of novels, Camus' "L'Etranger" (a favorite of my french teacher) and Heller's Catch-22. So, when I came home from work tonight, I searched reliable old Wikipedia and Google as an introductory means to help me understand the distinction. Chaplaincy is a recognized profession - one where the practitioners possess the educational requirements to screen, assess and counsel those needing spiritual or emotional support. As well, they can perform religious services such as last rites, marriages and baptisms. The role is not necessarily faith-based, making some knowledge of other belief systems necessary. A chaplain could be a priest, pastor, ordained deacon, rabbi, imam or other member of the clergy serving a group of people who are not organised as a mission or church, or who are unable to attend church for various reasons; such as health, confinement, or military or civil duties. In recent years many non-ordained persons (lay chaplains) have received professional training in chaplaincy and are now appointed in settings such as schools, hospitals, universities, prisons and elsewhere to work alongside or instead of ordained chaplains. In Canada, Health Care Chaplains may be certified by the Canadian Association for Pastoral Practice and Education.