Where do chaplains fit in the world of cancer care?
Finally, what are we about in modern chaplaincy? We have successfully shed our old image as a profession that is more tolerated than valued as a part of the team. We have become as skilled in interacting sensitively with patients and family members as any member of the health care team. We have become integrated professionals in the modern hospital. While maintaining these skills and that place, we need to reappropriate some of the unique features of who we are as people of faith and reintegrate them into our practice. The time when embracing science meant devaluing religious faith has come to an end. We can and must use the strengths of both science and religion to help cancer patients and their families strive for health. As we continue to grow in using the tools of science to bring people to faith and hope, we need to appropriate some other tools of psychology to help us. As I discussed, the role of assessment needs a great deal more exploration. Research on spiritual issues in coping with cancer is still in its infancy and desperately needs the participation of chaplains. We need the data from this research to help us maximize our patient's ability to use religious faith in their coping. As chaplains, we will always be on a bridge between science and religion. We will always have to be careful to stay balanced and not to wander too far toward one end of this bridge or the other. To keep our ministry in perspective, we must always remember that science is a method and a set of skills that we use while religious faith is at the center of who we are.
Handzo
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Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York City.
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D002604:Chaplaincy Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006167:Guilt; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D010327:Pastoral Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D012380:Role; D012752:Shame; D014481:United States