244815 Call the chaplain! – Working effectively with chaplains in the Health Care setting

Monday, October 31, 2011: 1:10 PM

Mark Fowler , Director of Programs - Religious Diversity in Health Care, Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding, New York, NY
     
Chaplains are often relegated to “on call” status in the treatment of patients. Particularly in end of life situations, practitioners are instructed to consult with the chaplain, or discuss with the patient whether a conversation with the chaplain would be welcome. But, how else could you be working with the chaplain and pastoral care services in your health care setting? Tanenbaum will share our better practices for optimizing collaborations with chaplains and pastoral care staff in your health care setting.

Tanenbaum is a secular, non-sectarian not-for-profit dedicated to providing the practical programs that organizations need to operate in a religiously inclusive manner. Religion is a key component for many patients in making health care decisions and conceptualizing life, health, and healing. It is an area whose importance is often overlooked by health care practitioners. Tanenbaum's Religious Diversity in Health Care program trains providers in core practices and critical communication skills so that they are prepared to respectfully inquire about patients' religious beliefs, respond appropriately and anticipate potential areas of conflict, thereby gaining patients' trust and achieving more positive health outcomes.

Tanenbaum will facilitate a discussion of experiences with chaplain and pastoral care services in health care settings in order to brainstorm how those situations can be improved upon and to highlight success stories from other institutions. Tanenbaum will then review some of the key components to the most effective collaborations with chaplains and pastoral care staff, sourced from our new publication, The Medical Manual for Religio-Cultural Competence: Caring for Religiously Diverse Populations. Topics will include:

- Understanding the role and skill sets of a professional chaplain; - Examining the barriers that keep chaplains from becoming full members of the patient-care team in many facilities; and - The range of ways in which chaplains can enhance patient care.

According to the American Landscape Survey, conducted by PEW in 2007, 84% of the American population self-identify as religious. This statistic indicates a vital need for the inclusion of religio-cultural competency in the definition of patient-centered care and, towards that end, the integration of clinical pastoral care in health care settings.

Learning Areas:
Diversity and culture

Learning Objectives:
1) Define the need for better practices in optimizing collaborations with chaplains and pastoral care staff in a health care setting to improve patient centered care. 2)Outline key components to the most effective collaboration with chaplains and pastoral care staff and the achievable outcomes with patients. 3)Facilitate a dialogue on implementing long lasting change in hospital practices and collaborations between health care practitioners and pastoral care staff.

Keywords: Religion, Curricula

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Mark E. Fowler is responsible for overseeing the design and implementation of Tanenbaum's programmatic trainings. Mark has been involved in New York City's education community for over 20 years and is a skilled facilitator/trainer who worked with teachers, counselors, administrators and students at the Anti-Defamation League on prejudice reduction, conflict resolution, and reducing bias and bullying. He is a sought-after keynote speaker and facilitator who has addressed organizations throughout New York on issues of equality in race, gender, sexual orientation and religion. He earned a B.A. in English and Education at Duke University and was trained as a Mediation and Conflict Resolution Specialist with the NYC Department of Education.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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