How the hell do I work with a chaplain? Laura Darling, Director of Spiritual Care Episcopal Senior Communities Kevin Philips, Chaplain Canterbury Woods, ESC Norma Brambilla, Executive Director Canterbury Woods, ESC Introductions Overview • What is a chaplain and what do they do? ▫ Tension points • What skills should a chaplain have? • How do I evaluate a chaplain’s performance? ▫ Red flags • Q&A What is spirituality? Spirituality is “the aspect of humanity that refers to the way individuals seek and express meaning and purpose and the way they experience their connectedness to the moment, to self, to others, to nature, and/or to the significant or sacred.” Clinical Practice Guidelines For Quality Palliative Care Where do chaplains come from? • Faith tradition: Religious background, denomination • CPE: Clinical Pastoral Education • Education: Ordination track vs. Academic track • Credentials: What to look for What do chaplains do? • Provide spiritual care ▫ What does “spiritual care” mean? ▫ What are spiritual needs? ▫ What is spiritual pain? • Pastoral presence ▫ What does “pastoral” mean? ▫ What is “pastoral care”? What do chaplains do? • Part of the Care Team ▫ How do we see the whole person, body, mind, and spirit? • Provide opportunities for worship ▫ How do we connect with things beyond ourselves? • Provide programs ▫ Where can we ask large questions? • Administration ▫ Communicate, communicate, communicate Tension points • Financial ▫ Differing perspectives • Trust ▫ Conflicting agendas • Prophetic vs. pastoral ▫ Whose needs? • Temporal vs. spiritual • Sacred space & objects The care and feeding of your chaplain • What is energizing • What is deflating What skills should a chaplain have? • Listening • High quality, empathetic responses • Authenticity What skills should chaplains have? • Knowledge about a range of faith traditions (including their own) • Ability to adapt to new situations & information What to look for when hiring • • • • • ***CPE experience*** Credentials Beyond religion Collaboration Check references! How do I evaluate a chaplain? • What is the quality of the care? • Can you still apply objective measures? Evaluating quality • e.g. Pastoral Care ▫ Breadth of connections with residents and staff ▫ Availability ▫ Timely and appropriate responses by email, phone, or in person ▫ Warmth, respect, openness ▫ Appropriate confidentiality What can you evaluate? • Part of the Care Team ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ Attend meetings regularly, on time, prepared Documentation of care Collaboration with care team: provides insights HIPAA compliance What can you evaluate? • Provide opportunities for worship ▫ Respect for different beliefs and practices – not proselytizing ▫ Adapt for needs of community ▫ Recruit and supervise outside service providers appropriately • Provide programs ▫ For range of residents from different backgrounds ▫ For staff: support, information, and training ▫ In collaboration with activities director What can you evaluate? • Administration ▫ Communicating with you ▫ Professional development ▫ Appropriate participation in meetings and committees Red flags • • • • • • Signs of burn-out Hiding behind administration The usual signs Scope creep Boundary issues Disconnect from organization Beware of projection You know more than you think • The basics ▫ Is the chaplain responsive? Appropriate? Collaborative? Helpful? ▫ Does the chaplain support the whole community? • 360 review ▫ Feedback from others • Talk with your colleagues • Meet with your chaplain There are resources to help you • ACPE ▫ www.acpe.edu/ • Association of Professional Chaplains ▫ www.professionalchaplains.org  Standards of Practice for Professional Chaplains in Long Term Care  Common Code of Ethics • Pacific Institute for Clinical Pastoral Training ▫ http://www.acpe.edu/ • Health Care Chaplaincy Network ▫ www.healthcarechaplaincy.org Q&A