Evidence-based medicine has transformed contemporary medical practice. For over twenty-five years, George Fitchett has been a pioneering advocate of the view that evidence-based spiritual care can, and should, equally transform chaplaincy. This book collects a key selection from his ground-breaking research. As models of good research practice, these papers demonstrate the real-world value of research and introduce their readers to issues that have continuing importance to spiritual care a...

These diverse case studies make a compelling case for the importance of effective spiritual care in healthcare and provide unprecedented insight into the essential role of the chaplain within the healthcare team. Presented alongside critical reflections and responses from professionals within chaplaincy, psychology, psychiatry and nursing, they provide an honest and detailed look into how healthcare chaplains actually work with the people in their care and reveal the vital role of narrativ...

Chaplains in healthcare settings offer patients spiritual care that involves companionship, counselling and maintaining hope. This is particularly important at the point where a patient has run out of treatment possibilities. This book reflects creatively on the work that chaplains do with people who are dying and the unique quality of the relationship that palliative care professionals construct with patients at the end of life.Based on qualitative research with practising palliat...

Gathering together thoughts and visions of experienced practitioners, academics, educators and strategic leaders from around the world, this edited volume sheds light on the nature of chaplaincy and its role and significance within ever-changing contemporary healthcare systems.A wide range of issues central to spiritual care delivery are covered, including reflections on what it feels like to be cared for by a chaplain through illness; the nature of chaplaincy as a profession; and ...

Forgiveness has often been viewed as a religious obligation but is increasingly being advocated as a means of healing, release and promoting wellbeing. Forgiveness is variously viewed as a duty, virtue or cure, but when it comes to practising forgiveness in real life we find it is always caught up in the complexity of the situation. This book shines a light on how we tend to think about forgiveness in practice, including examples from social work, family therapy, chaplaincy and criminal ju...

Spirituality is a multifaceted speciality; anyone who wants to understand it must look across a range of disciplines, which can often make it seem overwhelming and incomplete. This book will act as a reference resource for readers looking to develop their study of spirituality and its relevance to health and social care.

Meeting the psychological and spiritual needs of patients is vital to supporting their wellbeing in health care settings. To develop an effective, holistic and inclusive approach to care within predominantly medical health care models, practitioners across health care disciplines must work collaboratively to understand the complex, significant relationships between their patients' medical, therapeutic and spiritual requirements.Bridging the gap between care disciplines, the book pr...

Providing a bridge between research in healthcare and spirituality and practitioner perspectives, these essays on chaplaincy in healthcare continue dialogue around constructing, negotiating and researching spiritual care and discuss the critical issues in chaplaincy work, including assisted suicide and care in children's hospices. Each section of the book is introduced by an academic theologian, giving the book a strong theoretical base, before serving healthcare chaplains offer their pers...

Through a rich variety of case studies, this book provides insight into the patient's needs and the chaplain's perspective, as well as discussions of spiritual assessments and spiritual care interventions. Case studies such as a request to baptise a child complicated due to his admission for 'psychiatric reasons', as well as work with military veterans, such as a female transgender veteran who has been alienated from her faith, show the breadth and complexity of work that chaplains underta...

Diets, diets, diets. Which one is right for you?“Lose weight while eating chocolate chip cookies at every meal!”“Drink 4 cups of green tea every day - it’ll boost your metabolism and melt off fat like crazy!”“Skip breakfast and eat only two big meals a day. You won’t even have to worry about counting calories!”With so many contradicting diets and crazes floating around the internet nowadays, most of them turning out to be trends lasting for only a summer, ho...

The first comprehensive resource for spiritual and pastoral caregivers—a vital resource for clergy, seminarians, chaplains, pastoral counselors and caregivers of all faith traditions.This essential resource integrates the classic foundations of pastoral care with the latest approaches to spiritual care. It is specifically intended for professionals who work or spend time with congregants in acute care hospitals, behavioral health facilities, rehabilitation centers ...

Research shows that between birth and early adulthood the brain requires sensory stimulation to develop physically. The nature of the stimulation shapes the connections among neurons that create the neuronal networks necessary for thought and behavior. By changing the cultural environment, each generation shapes the brains of the next. By early adulthood, the neuroplasticity of the brain is greatly reduced, and this leads to a fundamental shift in the relationship between the individual an...