Clinical Buddhist Chaplaincy Spiritual Care in the US Catholic Healthcare System

Abstract

This study utilized an actual participant qualitative field research paradigm to collect data for examining and analyzing the work of a clinical Buddhist chaplain within a rural, Catholic medical center in the US. Quantitative data collected from patient visits (n=1,329; total visits (tv.)=1,443) provided information for measuring the spiritual care needs of patients and the efficiency and consistency of a clinical Buddhist chaplain’s work. The results demonstrate that prayers and pastoral counseling for Catholic and Protestant patients (n=1,265; 95.17%) comprised the dominant work content of a clinical Buddhist chaplain. This study suggests that traditional Christian chaplaincy is practiced even by Buddhist chaplains in a rural, religious medical institution.

Keywords

• clinical buddhist chaplaincy/chaplain
• spiritual care
• catholic healthcare