A professional spiritual care knowledge base: boon or bane?

Area of Science:

• Spiritual Care
• Clinical Pastoral Education
• Healthcare Chaplaincy

Background:

• The Ideal Intervention Paper project began in 2005 to compile clinical pastoral education student learnings.
• Over seven years, collected works from students, practitioners, and educators highlighted the need for a consolidated knowledge base.

Purpose of the Study:

• To expedite the professionalization of clinical chaplaincy.
• To establish a knowledge base for providing second opinions in difficult cases.
• To educate administrators and the public on chaplaincy work and gather data for effectiveness research.

Main Methods:

• An online knowledge base with 395 samples was created, hosted by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education Research Network.
• Nearly 40% of the knowledge base consists of work by experienced practitioners and educators.
• A pilot effectiveness study was conducted on the samples.

Main Results:

• The pilot effectiveness study did not yield meaningful results.
• A content analysis was performed as an interim measure.
• Tentative effectiveness ratings were provided pending further research.

Conclusions:

• The established knowledge base is a valuable resource for clinical chaplaincy.
• Further research is required to establish evidence-based spiritual care best practices.
• Interim content analysis offers preliminary insights into intervention effectiveness.