background and purpose: spirituality is a complex and multidimensional concept that has cognitive, experiential, and behavioral aspects. according to studies many patients believe that religion and spirituality play important roles in their lives. usually they expect such considerations to be taken into account by physicians. the aim of this study was to investigate the viewpoints of physicians...

As the United States becomes a more multicultural and multireligious society, the ranks of healthcare chaplains are no longer being limited solely to Judeo-Christian clerics. In an effort to increase interfaith understanding and ecumenical awareness, the author presents one model of healthcare chaplaincy that derives itself from a Buddhist perspective and how he uses it in his daily work at a l...

Copyright: © 2014. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS OpenJournals. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License. In the current times of change, deconstruction and ever-growing relativisation, pastoral praxis finds itself in methodological limbo. Pastoral practitioners currently face the challenge of effectively reaching postmodern people through the pastoral process. This ch...

This research aimed to establish the level of consumer experience with pastoral/spiritual care provision in a large tertiary private hospital. Two hundred and twenty-seven patients and bereaved carers of deceased patients who had received pastoral care were surveyed, with a response rate of 20% (n1⁄4 44). The key finding was the positive impact of pastoral care encounters, with the majority of ...

The study was designed to assess the degree to which two sets of measures about chaplains' visits with patients predicted patients' perceptions that their spiritual/religious needs and their emotional needs were met by the chaplain. The first set consisted of seven items about the chaplain's demeanor during the visit. The second set measured patient satisfaction with seven aspects of the chapla...

Because o f the recent development in pastoral care, a hermeneutic model is proposed. Metaphors in pastoral care and counselling are embedded in the life stories o f parishioners. As an interpreter o f Stories/stories, it is the diagnostic task o f the pastor to make a pastoral assessment o f the meaning and significance o f these stories in terms o f God images. In order to do that, the pastor...

Spiritual care is integral to palliative care, and palliative care experience in offering spiritual care can be a resource for the emerging healthcare interest in spirituality. Spirituality is best understood in terms of the web of relationships that gives coherence to our lives, uniquely identifying each person. In palliative care, responsibility for spiritual care is shared by the whole team,...

Recognizing changes are coming to the healthcare delivery system, pastoral care departments are developing a new vision of spiritual care. As they educate and hire staff, many directors are finding that alternative staffing approaches can help them make the transition. Flexible schedules for pastoral care professionals improve the care they deliver and enhance morale. Restructuring responsibili...

This article uses a sibling metaphor to outline the relationship between science and spirituality. This metaphor forms the backdrop for exploring several directions in spiritual care research. It argues that science and functional spirituality were born as siblings and need to dance now without either estrangement or incest, intent on measuring the material effects of excellent pastoral care.