What organizational and business models underlie the provision of spiritual care in healthcare organizations? An initial description and analysis.

Two-thirds of American hospitals have chaplains. This article explores the organizational and business models that underlie how chaplains are integrated into hospitals. Based on interviews with 14 chaplain managers and the 11 healthcare executives to whom they report at 18 hospitals in 9 systems, we identify three central findings. First, there is significant variation in how spiritual care programs are staffed and integrated into their hospitals. Second, executives and chaplain managers see the value of chaplains in terms of their quality of care, reliability and responsivity to emergent patient and staff needs, and clinical training and experience working within a complex environment. Third, few departments rely on empirical data when making decisions about staffing, tending instead to default to the budgetary status quo. These findings provide the basis for a larger more systematic study.

How Do Healthcare Executives Understand and Make Decisions about Spiritual Care Provision?

OBJECTIVES: This pilot study explores how healthcare leaders understand spiritual care and how that understanding informs staffing and resource decisions. METHODS: This study is based on interviews with 11 healthcare leaders, representing 18 hospitals in 9 systems, conducted between August 2019 and February 2020. RESULTS: Leaders see the value of chaplains in terms of their work supporting staff in tragic situations and during organizational change. They aim to continue to maintain chaplaincy efforts in the midst of challenging economic realities. CONCLUSIONS: Chaplains' interactions with staff alongside patient outcomes are a contributing factor in how resources decisions are made about spiritual care.