title: Building a new life: a chaplain's theory based case study of chronic illness.
abstract: This article presents the case study of spiritual care for a patient suffering from Parkinson's disease who was referred to the chaplain in an out-patient depression research program. The chaplain's interventions were informed by an application of narrative theory, and the article demonstrates how this theory enabled the chaplain to help a patient develop new coping strategies for dealing with chronic disease. Using narrative theory, the chaplain assisted the patient to develop a new sense of identity as a spiritual, contingent self as the disease eroded his physical self and former life. The article includes a description of a patient's spiritual needs, chaplain interventions, and an outcomes measure of those interventions. The author argues that narrative theory provides chaplains with a language to identify and craft the unique intervention that spiritual care has in the life trajectory of this Parkinson's patient and other patients dealing with chronic illnesses.
authors.affiliation: Bishop Anderson House, Chicago, Illinois 60612-3833, USA. james_l_risk@rush.edu
authors.forename: James L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Risk
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D033262:Narration; D020380:Needs Assessment; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D010327:Pastoral Care / Q000379:methods*; D011582:Psychological Theory; D012649:Self Concept