Ascension leaders Cathy Chang, Director of On Demand Spiritual Care, and Mary Heintzkill, Director, Spiritual Care, Mission Integration, discussed Ascension’s successful program for screening a patient’s spiritual care needs recently in Catholic Health World.
Using the remote care monitoring program, nurses administer a questionnaire to each patient, and chaplains help patients identify the sources of stress and guide the patient to a “place of more meaning,” Mary said.
“We are finding that about 20 percent of the patients in our remote care monitoring program (for patients with serious chronic illness) are experiencing spiritual distress and that chaplain intervention is appropriate in these cases,” she said.
“The chaplains help the patient find meaning in light of their current circumstances,” Cathy said. “For instance, we've heard several stories about patients who are isolated, or even self-isolating, because they don't feel they can their share their circumstances with their loved ones. But after working with the chaplain, they've often found ways to open up to their loved ones, which has given the patients a lot of peace, because they have more support.”
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