WJC10 Session 4 - Current Chaplain Characteristics and Implications for Strategic Planning: A Conversation about Cultural Competence, Diversity, and Concordance

Description:

Overview:
What do we know about how the chaplaincy workforce is similar to or different from the patient populations it serves in the U.S.? What about those currently in training, and demographic similarities or differences from those currently serving in the profession? By examining the membership rolls of the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE), Association of Professional Chaplains (APC), National Association of Catholic Chaplains (NACC), and Neshama – Association of Jewish Chaplains (NAJC) and comparing it to public data obtained from the Pew Research Center and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the current study provides a glimpse into the chaplaincy workforce and how it aligns or diverges from the patient populations served. Join us to discuss implications for strategic planning, especially as it relates to cultural competence, diversity, and concordance between patients and chaplains serving them.

Learning Objectives:

• To describe characteristics of the current chaplaincy workforce and patient populations served by chaplains
• To identify limitations for comparing membership data of various professional chaplaincy groups
• To discuss implications for chaplaincy education and training, particularly related to cultural competence, diversity, and concordance

Reading:
White, K. B., Barnes, M., Cadge, W., & Fitchett, G. (2020). Mapping the healthcare chaplaincy workforce: a baseline description. Journal of health care chaplaincy, 1–21. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/08854726.2020.1723192

Presenters:
Rev. Marilyn J. D. Barnes MS MA MPH BCC, is a Vice President of Mission and Spiritual Care in the Advocate Aurora Health Care System in Illinois. She previously served as a Senior Staff Chaplain at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital. She is a 2018 Transforming Chaplaincy Fellow graduate. Her research interests include the use of simulation in chaplaincy training and education, the impact of spiritual/religious coping on the association between discrimination and stress among midlife women, and the experiences of health care chaplains of color.

Cate Michelle Desjardins MDiv MPH, is the Executive Director of Mennonite Healthcare Fellowship and convener of the Pediatrics Spiritual Care Research Network. She previously served for five years in various roles at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Her research interests include the role of religion in surrogate decision-making and in coping with caregiving for children with complex medical needs. She completed the Transforming Chaplaincy Research Fellowship in 2019.

Rev. Shelley Varner-Perez MDiv MPH BCC CPH, is Senior Program Manager and Chaplain-Researcher at Indiana University (IU) Health, Indianapolis, as well as an Affiliated Research Scientist in the Center for Aging Research with the Regenstrief Institute. She previously served nine years as a chaplain at VA Portland Health Care System in Portland, Oregon. She completed the Transforming Chaplaincy Research Fellowship in 2019 at the conclusion of a Master of Public Health degree in Epidemiology. Her research interests include spiritual care with family surrogate decision-makers and staff support following code blue events, as well as using art to engage those who are non-religious/unaffiliated.

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