Paediatric Chaplaincy

Drawing on a range of approaches developed by paediatric chaplaincy teams worldwide, this edited collection provides best principles, practices and skills of chaplaincy work with neonates, infants, children, young people and their families. By engaging with paediatric chaplaincy from an international, multifaith perspective, contributors from around the world and different faith traditions show what good spiritual, religious and pastoral care for children and their families looks like. The book contains contributions from specialists who work with children with mental health issues or profound disabilities, as well as chapters that focus on how best to provide palliative and bereavement care. Includes resources and activities for use in specialist care situations and tools for assessment, making this a must-have for any paediatric chaplaincy team working in a hospital or hospice.

Exploring both principles and best practice of the spiritual care of sick children and young people, this remarkable and inspiring book equips the reader to think critically and creatively about how to provide care in hospitals, hospices and other care contexts for ill and disabled children. Written for staff from any allied health discipline, the authors explore the potential spiritual needs and issues faced by sick children and young people. They provide evidence-based practice principles, and a range of activity-based interactions that empower the child or young person and expand discussion of meaning and identity. The book includes stories and multidisciplinary practice examples, as well as many ideas; practical activities; discussion of work with families, and also of the various tensions and issues that can emerge. Based on evidence-based practice and research carried out by the Chaplaincy Team at Birmingham Children's Hospital, the book will be helpful and inspiring reading for chaplains, nurses, play and youth workers, therapists and anyone else involved in the care of sick children and young people.

Drawing on current scholarship and research by authors with experience of a range of International contexts who are experts in their field, this accessible guide focuses on approaches that encourage spiritual, physical, mental and emotional development in children. By outlining a range of lenses through which readers can reflect on their ministry with children and their families. this book offers inspiration to help them improve their practice. Up-to-date research and thinking provides a fresh and flexible understanding of work with children and families. It also prepares readers to develop and support a team that can take responsibility for the key areas needed in an effective children's ministry. With each chapter featuring practice examples, relevant theory, theological reflections, opportunities for contemplation and suggestions for further reading, Re-Thinking Children's Work in Churches is an accessible and indispensable guide for those wishing to focus on the holistic development of the child.

What is meant by 'spiritual care'? How can we assess and communicate the needs of a child in hospital effectively if we each have conflicting interpretations of 'spiritual'? This book proposes that we use a language of 'connectedness', which can fully express a child's feelings about, and understanding of, their hospital experience, rather than relying on religious or medical language. In doing so, assessments can be made purely on information given by the child and their emotional and spiritual needs can be communicated between professionals using a shared professional language, regardless of their own faith, religion or secular outlook. The book fully explains the concept of connectedness and outlines a practical assessment tool that uses play and storytelling to connect with the child and gather information about their hospital experience, their relationships with others while in the hospital setting, their feelings about their current state and their needs. This book will improve communication between medical practitioners, chaplains and other support services, enabling them to provide the best support for children in their care. It will also be of interest to academics in healthcare, theology and psychology.

This comprehensive introduction to the ministry of chaplaincy brings together three authors who oversee three of the leading chaplaincy programs in the United States. Written from an evangelical perspective, the book covers the foundations of chaplaincy and surveys specific types of chaplaincy work. In the first half of the book, the authors delve into the history of chaplaincy work as well as its biblical, theological, and philosophical foundations. They introduce students to important topics such as endorsement, placement, and the constitutional and legal parameters of such work. They also consider the person of the chaplain and the understanding of chaplaincy as Christian ministry. In the second half of the book, the authors bring together expert contributors to survey ten specific contexts for chaplaincy work, such as education, healthcare, the military, corporations, prisons, public safety, and sports, and they explore the future of chaplaincy. This book will be an invaluable resource for students of chaplaincy.

This textbook details the nursing care of babies with life limiting conditions and sets the context within the philosophy of internationally collaborative neonatal palliative care emphasising emotional and practical support for their families. Currently, increasing interest from nursing and medical fields regarding palliative care for babies in the antenatal and neonatal period is evident. This innovative and unique text provides experienced nurses and student nurses alike with realistic guidance in caring for babies with palliative care needs, alongside the crucial support for their families and identifies important strategies for professional self care. Nursing experts in this field collaborated to develop a reference book which supports holistic and integrated clinical practice. Parents’ experiences of what they consider helpful or not so helpful are interwoven throughout the chapter. There is currently no other textbook which offers the above information and guidance specifically for nurses and allied health professionals. As such this book will appeal to all nurses and health professionals working within the neonatal palliative care specialty in a global context.

Providing spiritual care is an important part in administering person-centred holistic care. This textbook explains why it is so important for any allied health professional (AHP) to be involved in, or assist with, the provision of spiritual care for patients and how to do so. Each chapter addresses a specific field of allied health practice, such as speech-language therapy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and other allied heath areas. The contributors explain how spiritual care can be applied in their specialist area, making it relevant for all AHPs. With contributions from leading academics and practitioners in allied health practice, this book will help AHPs understand how to give patients the complete care that they need, making this text essential reading for AHP practitioners, clinical supervisors, researchers, academics, tertiary lecturers and allied health students.

Through a rich variety of case studies, this book provides insight into the patient's needs and the chaplain's perspective, as well as discussions of spiritual assessments and spiritual care interventions. Case studies such as a request to baptise a child complicated due to his admission for 'psychiatric reasons', as well as work with military veterans, such as a female transgender veteran who has been alienated from her faith, show the breadth and complexity of work that chaplains undertake daily. Each section also includes critical responses to the case studies presented from a chaplain and related healthcare professional. This book will enable chaplains to critically reflect on the spiritual care they provide, and provide an informed perspective for healthcare professionals and others involved in chaplaincy services.