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Corporations finally discover the benefits of chaplains

January 2007 Enterprise article by Pam Eimers

One day last week. I sat in the parking lot outside Yolo Hospice, intrigued by a radio segment. It wasn't a heart-wrenching tale or an earth-shattering news report. The National Public Radio story was about the trend of businesses to employ chaplains.

It piqued my interest because chaplains are an integral component of the hospice team.

But what would move a major company to embrace the presence of chaplains in the office or on the plant floor? Quantifiable improvement in the bottom line.

After a nine–month pilot program at their Nashville, Tennessee plant, Coca–Cola Bottling reported improvement in productivity, safety, quality, profitability and employee morale. But what surprised the managers the most was that the employees said they would be willing to reduce their other benefits if necessary in order to make the chaplaincy program permanent.

Employees weren't looking at the bottom line. They were feeling that their emotional selves were being honored and cared for.

Companies like Coca–Cola Bottling and Tyson Foods, Inc. are beginning to acknowledge that genuine supportive human relationships in the workplace enhance well-being and thus positively impact business.

These companies know that when personal issues trouble employees they are not 100 percent on the job. Informal counseling or just a trained, impartial ear listening to their concerns can alleviate the stress that might otherwise continue to build.

Yolo Hospice employs chaplains to support patients and their families in a similar way - by simply being there to listen. When people are navigating the final phase of life, they have much to adjust to as their illness progresses. Many are grieving the loss of all their relationships and experiences that they have valued throughout a lifetime. They may struggle with regrets or unfinished business.

"What I do as a chaplain is walk down a familiar road with someone as their companion while they explore what is important and has meaning to them," says Erinn Melby, Yolo Hospice chaplain/counselor.

But chaplaincy is often misunderstood. "Many of our patients shy away from chaplain visits," says Lisa Flanagan, social work and chaplain manager, "because they confuse chaplaincy with religion."

The nature of chaplaincy work is to offer spiritual support. Even in the absence of religious affiliation a vibrant spirituality can exist.

"While Yolo Hospice chaplains are ordained clergy, we are interfaith and nondenominational," Melby explains. Hospice chaplains do not proselytize.

"Spirituality is ultimately about connections — to self, others and a higher power or energy, to the universe and all that's within it," Melby says. "It is the search for that which is of highest value to a particular human being." It's different for everyone.

According to myriad surveys, most Americans consider spirituality and religion a significant part of who they are, and a majority of patients want physicians to address issues of spirituality in the context of medical care.

The beginning of medicine was deeply imbedded in spirituality with spiritual leaders being some of the earliest healers.

However, the two disciplines parted ways in the 16th century with the emergence of the scientific method.

Today, a vast body of research exists arguing the need to bring spirituality and medicine back in touch. Not to commingle them, but to acknowledge and respect a patient's belief system, whatever it is.

Harold G. Koenig of Duke University published the "Handbook of Religion and Health" in 2001. He reviewed 1600 studies related to the relationships between religion and a variety of mental and physical health conditions. The studies show that spirituality and religion benefit patients by increasing their ability to cope and improving outcomes of illnesses and treatments.

"Spirituality in medicine is reaching out and being with other humans at depth," Melby says. "Listening to what is truly important in the present moment."

When chaplain visits are requested by patients, Hospice care represents an effective merging of disciplines. Hospice is rooted in treating the whole person — physically, emotionally and spiritually — throughout the lifetime.

Chaplain visits can provide a welcome relief from routine and isolation. Melby generally sees her patients one to three times monthly, sometime more often.

"We may just talk about baseball," Melby says. "There is a way into the human story through the comfort and familiarity of the commonplace." She's even known to play a good game of cribbage.

"In hospice we are here to be a support and witness to an individual so they can live their life to the fullest until their life is done. That is why this work is such an honor and a privilege."

This is exactly what business leaders are recognizing. Chaplaincy appears to be the common thread.

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Quotes

Ted Skiera
"I've worked for 20+ years in cardiovascular and oncology nursing, most recently working as a nurse coordinator in cardiovascular research. My work with Yolo Hospice has enabled me to focus all of my acute clinical experiences into caring for patients, and their loved ones, during a most challenging period of their lives."
~Ted Skiera, RN