Developing and implementing spiritual screening in healthcare: six successful models

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Chaplaincy
• Spiritual Care Research
• Patient Assessment

Background:

• Spiritual care is crucial in healthcare, particularly in outpatient settings.
• Religious or spiritual distress can negatively impact patient well-being.
• Effective methods are needed to identify patients who would benefit from spiritual care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the development and implementation of successful spiritual screening programs.
• To provide practical guidance for healthcare organizations seeking to implement spiritual screening.
• To highlight commonalities and unique aspects of various spiritual screening approaches.

Main Methods:

• Case study approach detailing spiritual screening programs across six healthcare organizations.
• Inclusion of diverse settings: hospital inpatients, oncology, palliative care, and population health.
• Description of screening tools, administration methods, and implementation processes.

Main Results:

• Successful spiritual screening programs were implemented in various healthcare settings.
• Detailed descriptions of screening questions, administration, and implementation challenges and successes were provided.
• Common and unique features across the six programs were identified.

Conclusions:

• Spiritual screening is a valuable tool for identifying patients in need of spiritual care.
• Implementation requires careful planning, collaboration, and adaptation to specific organizational contexts.
• Further research is needed to optimize spiritual screening practices and their impact on patient outcomes.