THE INTERDSICIPLINARY SPIRITUAL SUPPORT AND CHAPLAINCY PROGRAM

Introduction

In the health care system today, there is a gap between physical care for the elderly patient and consideration of their and their families spiritual and emotional needs. The concept of hospital chaplain does not exist in Israel. There is no formal system that provides for the mental, social and spiritual needs of the patient, in addition to their physical care.

Herzog Hospital has established a pilot program to provide spiritual support for its patients and their families. The program focuses on two main aspects: the first – the staff’s knowledge of the spiritual and religious background and needs of the individual, and those of his family. The second aspect is providing multi-disciplinary health care within the hospital, while relating to the spiritual needs of the patient and his family on a continuing and long term basis, as needed. Specially trained spiritual supporters work in different hospital departments and have become part of the routine health care interaction with patients, families and staff. This is in addition to the services and assistance provided by hospital social workers.

Target population

Over 11% of the population of Jerusalem is over 65 years old, comprised of Jews, Muslims and Christians.  Herzog Hospital is the main facility in Jerusalem treating the full range of illnesses affecting the elderly, with departments for Acute Care, Alzheimer’s Disease, Physical Rehabilitation, Complex Nursing, Chronic Respiratory Care, Dialysis, and end of life care. Many of the patients have low physical or mental functioning. Some of them are terminal, and their death is imminent, while others are in reduced consciousness levels, such as vegetative states or comatose, whose life expectancy is unclear. Attention to the emotional and spiritual needs of the families is essential in cases where loved ones suffer from serious illnesses. The Hospital provides spiritual support services in all departments caring for the elderly.

In addition, special spiritual support services are being provided to the parents of children hospitalized at Herzog’s Children’s Chronic Respiratory Department. This demands another level of spiritual support for the parents and siblings of children who are connected full time to respirators, and are unconscious.

20% of the patients in the Department are Muslims, 5% Christians and the rest are Jewish. The Jewish patients range between secular, orthodox and ultra-orthodox.

The Spiritual Supporters meet with the patient’s families, discussing their needs and concerns. The time the spiritual supporter spends with the families not only includes listening, and giving the family member someone to speak to, but also to encourage and strengthen the family members to continue with the care and love that they are giving to the patient. The Spiritual Supporter/Chaplain provides empathy, caring, security and an additional person to speak to beyond the regular department’s medical, nursing, social and rehabilitation staff. In addition, he can relate to any spiritual and religious questions, which are not provided for by the treatment given by the health care staff. We have already found how important, helpful and appreciated this spiritual support is to the family and the patient, as well as it providing a key added value resource for the department. The Spiritual Supporters work in coordination with the Hospital social workers, and are today considered an integral part of the health care team.

The Spiritual Support Service includes:

• Responding to ethical & halachic questions from the medical staff and the families;
• Talking with patients and families, as referred by the social worker, the doctor, the nurse, or approaching patients and their families in coordination with the staff. This includes taking an interest in the patient’s condition, encouraging him and/or his family;
• Coordination and follow up of patients who have left the hospital to go home or to another hospital, and visiting the family during Shiva;
• Education of the hospital staff in matters relating to halachic-geriatric issues and in being attentive, understanding and respectful of diverse spiritual and religious needs of  patients of different religions and denominations;
• Educating medical staff in assessment of spiritual/religious needs in patients as part of the medical intake;
• Educating medical staff in cooperation with the chaplain as an integrative part of the medical team;
• Establishing a medical chaplaincy curriculum for education and training of hospital chaplains in the Israel medical system;
• Raising the awareness of the community and medical and para-medical staff about the connection between spirituality and health and medicine, and the role of chaplaincy in the medical system in Israel.

Nursing school program 2013

The central goals of the nursing school for the academic year are:

1. Professional development and advancement of the nursing staff in the fields of clinical performance, ethics and management
2. Enrichment and updating the knowledge of the nursing and paramedical staff
3. Training and supervising the teaching of students from different teaching tracks
4. Contribute in our “own small way” to training select populations to give them a profession.

The program was developed based on the needs as identified by the senior nursing staff from the clinical division and designed to enrich the curriculum laid down by the Ministry of Health for both the basic and advanced courses in nursing.

There are two tracks to the school – the internal, for teaching and upgrading the existing staff of the hospital and the external, for teaching students from other institutions.

Internal:  Following is the outline of the topics to be covered this academic year: