HealthCare Chaplaincy CEO to Keynote Spiritual Care Summit in Israel
New York, NY (PRWEB) January 22, 2015 -- As interest in the value of spiritual support as a component of overall health care gains momentum worldwide, Rev. Eric J. Hall, president and CEO of the New York-based HealthCare Chaplaincy Network (HCCN), will be the keynote speaker on January 27 at an international summit to advance spiritual care in Israel’s public health system.
The conference, “Hope and Resilience: Innovative and Interdisciplinary Spiritual Care,” is sponsored by the National Association of Jewish Chaplains in collaboration with UJA-Federation of New York, Tishkofet, JDC-Eshel, and the Israel Spiritual Care Network. It will be held January 27-28 at Hotel Yehuda in Jerusalem.
“Spiritual care can help people find comfort and meaning, especially during a health care crisis when words like loneliness and grief become part of their everyday vocabulary,” Hall said. “It is a key component of overall quality care and quality of life, not only for patients but also for their families.”
In his address, Hall will focus on the latest research in the field, including findings presented last spring at HCCN’s first international conference on spiritual care. The research addresses best practices and the body of evidence to inform spiritual care and its impact on health care, such as increased patient satisfaction.
Hall will also relate the state of spiritual care in the U.S., including progress toward incorporating spiritual care into health care systems, providing clinical pastoral education to chaplains and community clergy, and including professional health care chaplains as members of interdisciplinary teams. In the U.S., The Joint Commission, which accredits and certifies more than 20,500 health care organizations and programs nationwide, has standards related to spiritual care, including requiring hospitals to do a spiritual assessment on each patient and to provide care that addresses the spiritual needs for those who are near or at the end of their lives.
“While the U.S. may be a trailblazer in spiritual care, other countries are now picking up on this momentum. Building bridges between the well-established and the emerging systems bodes well for transforming efforts to define best practices and ultimately help people in spiritual distress,” Hall said.
A leader in spiritual care education and research in the U.S., HCCN offers spiritual care-related information and resources, and professional chaplaincy services in hospitals, other health care settings, and online. HCCN, founded in 1961, has provided clinical pastoral education related to the integration of spirituality and health care for more than 25 years in many of New York state’s leading hospitals, including Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and NYU Langone Medical Center.
About HealthCare Chaplaincy Network™
HealthCare Chaplaincy Network™ is a national health care nonprofit organization that offers professional chaplaincy services, and spiritual-related information and resources in hospitals, other health care settings, and online. Its mission is to advance the integration of spiritual care in health care through clinical practice, research and education, and to help people faced with illness, suffering and grief find comfort and meaning—whoever they are, whatever they believe, wherever they are. For more information, visit http://www.healthcarechaplaincy.org, call 212-644-1111, follow us on twitter (https://twitter.com/MeaningComfort) or connect with us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/healthcarechaplaincy).
Carol Steinberg, HealthCare Chaplaincy Network, http://www.healthcarechaplaincy.org, +1 (212) 644-1111 Ext: 121, [email protected]
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