PASTORAL RESEARCH

Essential to the support of the many bridges we have constructed, our pastoral research department has achieved national stature for its work in providing the healthcare community with increasing evidence of the irrefutable benefits of spiritual care.

Our researchers have extended the reach of their findings through new collaborations with several of the country’s leading universities and medical centers. The Rev. Dr. Larry VandeCreek, co-director of the pastoral research department, partnered with The Center for the Psychosocial Study of Health and Illness at the Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health of Columbia University to develop research that examines the ratio of the number of chaplains to the number of inpatients in a facility. He also participated in a joint research initiative with the Hospital for Special Surgery’s Division of Rheumatology that examines styles of religious coping among rheumatoid arthritis outpatients.

The Rev. Drs. Andrew Weaver (l.) and Larry VandeCreek discuss their work in pastoral research

Because our research contributions are so critical to the field of spiritual care, the Chaplaincy's added the position of co-director to its research department. The Rev. Dr. Andrew Weaver is an ordained Methodist minister, a clinical psychologist, and a highly published author on pastoral care and counseling. He has formed a collaborative relationship with Duke University’s Center for the Study of Religion/Spirituality and Health that uses research to promote the efficacy and cost effectiveness of integrating the chaplain into the healthcare team.

Chaplaincy librarian Sharon Brown introduces CPE students to the library

the Chaplaincy's ’s research findings garnered coverage in several prestigious academic journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine, The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), and The Journal of Pastoral Care.

Fulfilling a commitment to the care of the whole person, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company awarded a generous grant to the five major certifying and/or accrediting chaplaincy associations in North America to support the research and publication of a white paper—a consensus statement documenting the role and importance of professional chaplaincy in healthcare. The Rev. Dr. Larry VandeCreek was one of the paper’s two editors.

The Rev. Dr. Andrew Weaver

BRIDGING SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALITY Research plays an important role in educating the community about the benefits of professional chaplaincy. As co-director of pastoral research for HealthCare Chaplaincy, The Rev. Dr. Andrew Weaver has developed new studies and compiled data which support that role. His findings never cease to inspire him. In writing his article "Cancer Patients and Caregivers Benefit from Religious Faith," The Rev. Dr. Weaver discovered that "when 231 people with end-stage cancer were asked what maintained their quality of life, their ‘relationship with God’ was the most common answer out of 28 choices." "I found that remarkable," he said, "that people thought their relationship with God was more important than pain relief or eating well." These and other facts help bridge the gap between spirituality and science, and confirm what we at HealthCare Chaplaincy know to be true—that without proper attention to the spirit, the human body cannot cope or heal.