Improving Spiritual Care as a Dimension of Palliative Care (P4)

Abstract

1.Review the National Consensus Project Guidelines and Recommendations for Spiritual Care. Fill out a checklist as to what they are already doing in their clinical settings based on the guidelines. They will identify gaps, specific areas for improvement, as well as identify resources of strength and weaknesses at their clinical site (eg, leadership support but no financial resource).2.Discuss one project they will develop in their healthcare setting with regards to spiritual care.3.Review current updates on chaplaincy in the United States, board certification opportunities, and ways clinicians can work with chaplains. Understand basic qualifications and standards of practice for board certified chaplains. They will be able to fully leverage the skills and competencies that professional chaplains bring to the palliative care team to integrate spiritual care into the overall care plan. They will be able to anticipate the role that the professional chaplain will be able to play in their proposed project. Chaplains will learn about opportunities for involvement in these projects and spiritual care teams.4.Describe use of quality improvement (QI) projects in spiritual care. Review of recommendations of QI in spiritual care. Give examples of QI projects. Participants from the preconference workship during the AAHPM 2010 meeting will present updates on their QI projects and efforts of the hospitals from the Archstone-funded project will be presented. Give handout of examples of QI projects, resources including sample spiritual surveys, research, instruments, and summaries of projects from Archstone sites. In 2004, the National Consensus Project (NCP) for Quality Palliative Care, developed guidelines to strengthen new and existing palliative care services. Spiritual care is one of the eight domains within the NCP guidelines. The guidelines made a significant contribution in acknowledging the importance of spiritual care in palliative care, and built a foundation for the integration of spirituality into care of patients. Drs. Ferrell and Puchalski co-led a national consensus conference, “Improving the Quality of Spiritual Care in Palliative Care,” funded by the Archstone Foundation which developed recommendations for the implementation of these spiritual care guidelines. Using NCP guidelines and the consensus-based process, the City of Hope-GWish initiative developed innovative, practical consensus-based recommendations for the implementation of spiritual care guidelines of the NCP. Participants included chaplains, clergy (different denominations), nurses, physicians, psychologists, and social workers. In a 2-day conference and over months of review, a consensus document was developed that included: a definition for spirituality, a medical model for the delivery of spiritual care by the interdisciplinary team, practical recommendations for clinical care, interprofessional education, and quality improvement. Through a national consensus process similar to the NCP-National Quality Forum, these models and recommendations are being approved for use in palliative care and hospice settings. The executive summary of the recommendations were published in the Journal of Palliative Medicine in October 2009 and as a book entitled Making Healthcare Whole: Integrating Spirituality into Healthcare. In 2010, the Archstone Foundation funded ten hospitals as demonstration sites testing the model and implementing recommendations from the NCP. This session will describe the activities of the sites and the spiritual care outcome measures applied. Participants will discuss their own institutions’ present and potential efforts to improve spiritual care in palliative care. Spiritual, Religious, and Existential Aspects of Care