Healing the soul
Doctors in Britain recently voted down a proposal that would have allowed them to discuss spiritual issues with patients, a practice currently limited to chaplains there. On this side of the pond, the Rev. Angelika Zollfrank, a Lutheran minister who is a chaplain and director of clinical pastoral education at Massachusetts General Hospital, teaches spiritual caregiving not only to theological students and clergy members but also to healthcare providers. Here is an edited conversation about her views on what clergy and caregivers can offer.
ELIZABETH COONEY
Q. What do you think of the sharp division in Britain between chaplains and healthcare providers?
A. Clearly, chaplains do not have a monopoly on spiritual caregiving. Spirituality is a quality in life that can connect us. Many patients deeply appreciate it when their nurse attends to the needs of their heart, or even offers prayer. But caregivers who provide spiritual care should be trained not to superimpose their own beliefs. We offer a program that has trained physicians, nurses, social workers, and other clinicians in this. The Joint Commission requires US hospitals to assure that patients’ spiritual needs are met.
Q. Which chaplains see which patients?
A. We first meet patients not necessarily on the basis of faith-specific background, but specific clinical areas. We have a pediatric chaplain, an oncology chaplain, etc.
Q. What do patients ask you?
A. People wonder, why is this happening to me? A lot of what we do is simply entering the person’s pain and suffering to allow them to express what is going on with them. And then sometimes it’s transformed.
Q. What about patients who aren’t religiously active?
A. We support people where they are. Sometimes people have not been so much in touch with their spirituality, but then all of a sudden it becomes more important. It’s understandable - if my body doesn’t function the way I want it to function, then maybe my spiritual life becomes more important.
Q. What happens when you go into a patient’s room?
A. It may be a conversation that leads to actual religious content or it may just be to sit with someone who is trying to find meaning in what is happening to them at the moment. They can say no. The chaplain is the one person on the team that a patient can choose not to see.
Q. What drew you to this kind of ministry?
A. I used to work in a congregation, but [the hospital] is a different type of church, if you will. The task is to be where people are in need, rather than people in need coming to the church. I felt called to this particular type of church. 