A professional spiritual care knowledge base: boon or bane?

An Ideal Intervention Paper was initiated in 2005 to consolidate the learnings of clinical pastoral education students. As papers from students, practitioners, and educators were collected over a period of seven years, it became evident that a knowledge base comprised of this work would expedite the professionalization of clinical chaplaincy via provision of second opinions in difficult cases, education of administrators and the public about the nature of chaplaincy work, and baseline data for effectiveness research-to include replication of effective interventions toward designation of evidence based spiritual care best practices. An online 395-sample knowledge base hosted by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education Research Network was amassed, nearly 40 percent of which is the work of experienced practitioners and educators.

Pastoral research: past, present, and future.

In healthcare environments of excellence, clinically trained chaplains are valued members of the medical treatment team. There are skills and values they hold in common with medicine and allied health disciplines: enhancing the health and well-being of the patient as a unity of body, mind, and spirit within a unique family and cultural system. This article examines the past, present, and future of pastoral research, including the chaplain's moral imperative to examine practice and to share what is found.