Barbara A Jack, Jennifer A Kirton, Karen E Groves, Martin Abrams, Dominic G Bray, Mari Lloyd- Williams
{"title":"Shining a Light in COVID-19 Darkness","authors":"Barbara A Jack, Jennifer A Kirton, Karen E Groves, Martin Abrams, Dominic G Bray, Mari Lloyd- Williams","doi":"10.1558/hscc.27096","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Introduction: The World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a global pandemic in March 2020, resulting in travel restrictions, closure of non-essential shops and services, and the discontinuation of elective healthcare. The escalation of the pandemic impacted on hospital healthcare professionals, who experienced the deaths of colleagues and unprecedented changes in their working conditions. One area that received media attention in the United Kingdom during the pandemic was the role of hospital chaplaincy and spiritual care teams.Methods: An exploratory study advertised via social media, the press and professional bodies resulted in 86 healthcare professionals and 63 chaplains, who had worked clinically in the United Kingdom during the pandemic, completing an open, free text electronic survey. Seven chaplains participated in a follow-up telephone interview, with all the data collected in 2022.Results: The survey demographic data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Free text responses and interviews were subject to thematic analysis. A focus on the support of health professionals was widely reported by all respondents. Two overarching themes were identified: (1) organizational initiatives, with subthemes of structural and virtual support; (2) proactive intervention – “going to the frontline”, with subthemes of emotional and spiritual support, moral support and practical input.Discussion/Conclusion: The overarching finding was that hospital chaplains worked alongside healthcare staff on the clinical frontline. Staff described this as invaluable in its immediacy of support and provision of a valued presence. The chaplain’s role changed to becoming more focused on staff support, which appears to be ongoing, thus impacting on the future role and training for hospital chaplaincy teams.","PeriodicalId":37483,"journal":{"name":"Health and Social Care Chaplaincy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Health and Social Care Chaplaincy","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1558/hscc.27096","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"Arts and Humanities","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction: The World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a global pandemic in March 2020, resulting in travel restrictions, closure of non-essential shops and services, and the discontinuation of elective healthcare. The escalation of the pandemic impacted on hospital healthcare professionals, who experienced the deaths of colleagues and unprecedented changes in their working conditions. One area that received media attention in the United Kingdom during the pandemic was the role of hospital chaplaincy and spiritual care teams.Methods: An exploratory study advertised via social media, the press and professional bodies resulted in 86 healthcare professionals and 63 chaplains, who had worked clinically in the United Kingdom during the pandemic, completing an open, free text electronic survey. Seven chaplains participated in a follow-up telephone interview, with all the data collected in 2022.Results: The survey demographic data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Free text responses and interviews were subject to thematic analysis. A focus on the support of health professionals was widely reported by all respondents. Two overarching themes were identified: (1) organizational initiatives, with subthemes of structural and virtual support; (2) proactive intervention – “going to the frontline”, with subthemes of emotional and spiritual support, moral support and practical input.Discussion/Conclusion: The overarching finding was that hospital chaplains worked alongside healthcare staff on the clinical frontline. Staff described this as invaluable in its immediacy of support and provision of a valued presence. The chaplain’s role changed to becoming more focused on staff support, which appears to be ongoing, thus impacting on the future role and training for hospital chaplaincy teams.
期刊介绍:
Health and Social Care Chaplaincy is a peer-reviewed, international journal that assists health and social care chaplains to explore the art and science of spiritual care within a variety of contexts. The journal was founded in 2013 through the merger of the Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy (issn:1748-801X) and the Scottish Journal of Healthcare Chaplaincy (issn:1463-9920) . It continues to be the official journal of the College of Health Care Chaplains and members of the society receive the journal as part of their annual membership. For more details on membership subscriptions, please click on the ''members'' button at the top of this page. Back issues of both previous journals are being loaded onto this website (see Archives) and online access to these back issues is included in all institutional subscriptions. Health and Social Care Chaplaincy is a multidisciplinary forum for the discussion of a range of issues related to the delivery of spiritual care across various settings: acute, paediatric, mental health, palliative care and community. It encourages a creative collaboration and interface between health and social care practitioners in the UK and internationally and consolidates different traditions of discourse and communication research in its commitment to an understanding of psychosocial, cultural and ethical aspects of healthcare in contemporary societies. It is responsive to both ecumenical and interfaith agendas as well as those from a humanist perspective.