HealthCare Chaplaincy’s the Rev. George Handzo was a workshop presenter in November at the annual conference of the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) which attracts palliative care professionals from around the country. Most of the 650 people registered at this educational event were doctors and nurses, followed by administrators, social workers and chaplains.George’s topic was “Improving the Quality of Spiritual Care as a Dimension of Palliative Care,” emphasizing the important role that a professional chaplain plays on the palliative care team.A recurring theme that ran through the presentations was the need to educate and advocate for the value of palliative care to the public, policy makers, and the health care profession itself.
CAPC Director Diane Meier, MD emphasized these grim facts:
- 5% of all insured patients account for two-thirds of insurance company costs
- 10% of Medicare patients account for two-thirds of Medicare costs
- 10% of patients in hospitals account for two-thirds of a hospital’s costs
Dr. Meier said that palliative care can reduce costs while improving patient outcomes, that key to effective palliative care is listening to the patient and family members, and that chaplains are experts at this. Dr. Meier made special mention of the fact that professional chaplaincy will have a certification process in palliative care within the year. This effort, which creates the first subspecialty certification for chaplains, is a result of a joint initiative of HealthCare Chaplaincy and the Association of Professional Chaplains, and is supported by grants from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations and the Retirement Research Foundation.HCC began the pilot of the educational curriculum with a small group of chaplains on January 23rd, and will open the program to all interested chaplains in September.
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