1. Provision of chaplaincy services in U.S. hospitals: A strategic conformity perspective.
- Author
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White, Kelsey B., Lee, Shoou-Yih Daniel, Jennings, J'Aime C., Karimi, Seyed, Johnson, Christopher E., and Fitchett, George
- Subjects
HOSPITALS ,INSTITUTIONAL cooperation ,STATISTICS ,HEALTH services accessibility ,ACADEMIC medical centers ,CONFIDENCE intervals ,NONPROFIT organizations ,HEALTH facility administration ,MULTIVARIATE analysis ,PATIENT-centered care ,HOSPITAL chaplains ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,PUBLIC hospitals ,RESEARCH funding ,LOGISTIC regression analysis ,DATA analysis software ,ODDS ratio ,DATA analysis ,SPIRITUAL care (Medical care) ,LONGITUDINAL method ,CHURCH buildings ,MEDICARE - Abstract
Background: Increasingly, hospitals are expected to provide patient-centered care that attends to patients' health needs, including spiritual care needs. Chaplaincy services help to meet patients' spiritual care needs, which have been shown to have a positive impact on health outcomes. Variation in the provision of chaplaincy services suggests hospitals do not uniformly conform to the expectation of making chaplaincy services available. Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the availability and factors that influence hospitals' provision of chaplaincy services. Methodology: Data were combined from the American Hospital Association annual surveys with the Area Health Resource File at the county level from 2010 to 2019. Observations on general, acute-care community hospitals were analyzed (45,384 hospital-year observations) using logistic regression that clustered standard errors at the hospital level. Results: Hospitals with Joint Commission accreditation, more staffed beds, nonprofit and government ownership, teaching status, one or more intensive care units, a higher percentage of Medicare inpatient days, church affiliation, and system membership were more likely to provide chaplaincy services than their counterparts. Certification as a trauma hospital and market competition showed no influence on the provision of chaplaincy services. Conclusion: The lack of chaplaincy services in many hospitals may be due to limited resources, workforce shortage, or a lack of consensus on scope and nature of chaplaincy services. Practice Implications: Chaplaincy services are an underutilized resource that influences patient experience, clinician burnout and turnover, and the goal of ensuring care is patient-centered. Administrators should consider stronger partnerships where services are provided; researchers and policymakers should consider how the lack of these services in some hospitals may reinforce existing health disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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