Examining Factors Associated with Utilization of Chaplains in the Acute Care Setting

White, Kelsey; Jennings, J.’Aime C.; Karimi, Seyed; Johnson, Christopher E.; Fitchett, George

doi:10.1007/s10943-021-01460-x

Original Paper
Published: 19 November 2021

Examining Factors Associated with Utilization of Chaplains in the Acute Care Setting

Kelsey White ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4806-1414¹,
J.’Aime C. Jennings¹,
Seyed Karimi¹,
Christopher E. Johnson¹ &
George Fitchett²

Journal of Religion and Health volume 61, pages 1095–1119 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

Hospitalized persons want their spiritual needs addressed and discussed by the healthcare team, but medical providers and nurses lack the necessary training. Patients want chaplaincy care, but very few receive it, and little is known about utilization factors. To identify the population characteristics associated with the utilization of chaplaincy services, hospitalization data from March 2012 to July 2017 were analyzed (N = 15,242 patients). Religiously affiliated individuals and those with the most acute health needs were more likely to receive chaplaincy care and received more total care. Patient-centered healthcare models may need to evaluate strategic integration of spiritual care beyond reactive spiritual care provision.

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Department of Health Management and System Sciences, School of Public Health and Information Sciences, University of Louisville, 485 East Gray Street, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA
Kelsey White, J.’Aime C. Jennings, Seyed Karimi & Christopher E. Johnson
Department of Religion, Health and Human Values, Rush University Medical Center, 1653 West Congress Parkway, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA
George Fitchett

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Kelsey White
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J.’Aime C. Jennings
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Seyed Karimi
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Christopher E. Johnson
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George Fitchett
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All authors contributed to the study’s conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by KW, JJ, SK, and GF. The first draft of the manuscript was written by KW and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Kelsey White.

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Appendix: Supplemental Table 1

Variable		Source
Predisposing	Age	EMR
	Sex	EMR
	Race	HCAHPS
	Ethnicity	HCAHPS
	Language	HCAHPS
	Religious affiliation	EMR
Enabling	Education	HCAHPS
Need	Self-reported health	HCAHPS
	Self-reported mental health	HCAHPS
	Length of stay	EMR
	Multiple diagnostic categories	EMR
Control	ED admission	HCAHPS
	Admit date	EMR
Dependent variables	Chaplain visit	EMR
	Time with chaplain	EMR

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White, K., Jennings, J.C., Karimi, S. et al. Examining Factors Associated with Utilization of Chaplains in the Acute Care Setting. J Relig Health 61, 1095–1119 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-021-01460-x

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Accepted: 05 November 2021
Published: 19 November 2021
Issue Date: April 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-021-01460-x

Keywords

Patient-centered
Hurdle models
Spiritual care
Chaplain

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Appendix: Supplemental Table 1

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