Professional chaplaincy: an absent profession?

A content analysis of 60 articles from six health care journal issues devoted to the topic of spirituality suggest that interdisciplinary health care authors neglect professional chaplaincy when they discuss spirituality. Notes that possible reasons for this neglect include the continuing negative fall-out from the historic religion-science conflicts, the perception that both religion and clergy are irrelevant, and the belief that interdisciplinary professionals themselves can improve their patient services by giving attention to spirituality without the involvement of chaplains. Discusses the results and possible implications for professional chaplaincy and for health care.