The Association of Surrogate Decision Makers' Religious and Spiritual Beliefs With End-of-Life Decisions.

Context: Although religion and spirituality are important to surrogate decision makers, little is known about the role of religion in decision making regarding life-sustaining treatments.

Objectives: To determine the relationships between dimensions of religion and spirituality and medical treatment decisions made by surrogates.

Methods: This prospective observational study enrolled patient/surrogate dyads from three hospitals in one metropolitan area.

Spiritual and Religious Coping of Medical Decision Makers for Hospitalized Older Adult Patients.

Background: Critically ill adult patients who face medical decisions often delegate others to make important decisions. Those who are authorized to make such decisions are typically family members, friends, or legally authorized representatives, often referred to as surrogates. Making medical decisions on behalf of others produces emotional distress.

Clarifying Values and Preferences for Care Near the End of Life: The Role of a New Lay Workforce.

Community health workers (CHWs) can engage elderly persons in advance care planning (ACP) conversations. We report how trained CHWs used Go Wish cards (GW cards) to identify patients' highest priority preferences and evaluated whether engaging in ACP conversations was associated with subsequent health care utilization. A one-year long, pre-post longitudinal design was used to evaluate our educational intervention using mixed-methods.

Impact of Community Health Workers on Elderly Patients' Advance Care Planning and Health Care Utilization: Moving the Dial.

Background: Advance care planning (ACP) is recommended for all persons to ensure that the care they receive aligns with their values and preferences.

Objective: To evaluate an ACP intervention developed to better meet the needs and priorities of persons with chronic diseases, including mild cognitive impairment.

Research Design: A year-long, pre-post intervention using lay community health workers [care coordinator assistants (CCAs)] trained to conduct and document ACP conversations with patients during home health visits with pre-post evaluation.

Enhancing the prospects for palliative care at the end of life: A statewide educational demonstration project to improve advance care planning.

Objective: Although patients want to participate in discussions and decisions about their end-of-life care, studies show that providers frequently fail to invite them to explore advanced care preferences or goals for living. The purpose of our demonstration project was to provide education and coaching to individuals, health providers, and organizations across the state of Indiana intended to facilitate these conversations, documenting and honoring individuals' life goals and preferences for care during the final stages of life.

Method: Education and training engaged community members as well as healthcare providers to: (1) improve participant comfort and facility discussing end-of-life issues; (2) improve knowledge of healthcare choices, including palliative and hospice care; and (3) prepare all participants to explore and document personal values, life goals, and priorities as well as goals of care.

Religion and Spirituality in Surrogate Decision Making for Hospitalized Older Adults.

We conducted semi-structured interviews with 46 surrogate decision makers for hospitalized older adults to characterize the role of spirituality and religion in decision making. Three themes emerged: (1) religion as a guide to decision making, (2) control, and (3) faith, death and dying. For religious surrogates, religion played a central role in end of life decisions.

Language and practice changes in Canadian and US specialized pastoral care and counseling: a conversation.

On August 20, 2013, Terry Bard, John Carr, and Steve Ivy had a 50-minute conversation about the shift that has been taking place in Canada and the United States in the practice, and the language about that practice, of persons and professional associations that have historic roots in the modern pastoral care and counseling movement. The conversation was digitally recorded, by agreement among the three participants, and is posted on the internet as a stimulus to further conversation.

Understanding Values in a Large Health Care Organization through Work-Life Narratives of High-Performing Employees.

OBJECTIVE—: To understand high-performing frontline employees' values as reflected in their narratives of day-to-day interactions in a large health care organization. METHODS—: A total of 150 employees representing various roles within the organization were interviewed and asked to share work-life narratives (WLNs) about value-affirming situations (i.e.

The effect of spiritual retreat on nurses' spirituality: a randomized controlled study.

This study tested whether two 1-day retreats focused on spiritual self-care would positively change nurse participants' spirituality. A total of 199 critical care nurses were accepted into this study; 87 were randomized to receive the retreat intervention. All 199 nurses were tested preretreat, 1 month and 6 months postretreat.

Educating CPE supervisors: a grounded theory study.

This qualitative study was designed to cull the wisdom of CPE supervisors doing especially competent supervisory education and to develop a theory of CPE supervisory education. Grounded theory methodology included interviewing 11 supervisors and coding the data to identify themes. Four primary dimensions emerged along with a reciprocal core dimension, Supervisory Wisdom, which refers to work the supervisors do in terms of their continuing growth and development.

Chaplaincy research: a case study.

The authors report the pragmatic elements of conducting an empirical chaplaincy research project. The article offers the step-by-step process of implementing, coordinating, and completing a sound quantitative research project. The authors offer a definitive answer to the question, "Can a staff chaplain integrate providing pastoral care and doing a quantitative research project as principle investigator"?

Chaplain yes and chaplain no: both are correct; neither is true.

This article supports chaplain investment in research activities. These activities should be guided by recognition of the complexity of human experience, integrative theologies and philosophies, and systemic consciousness.