Hospice Chaplain

A hospice chaplain serves in a spiritual capacity that extends beyond prayer. They’ll provide spiritual support to patients and families, as well as bereavement help after a loved one passes away.

LifeChoice hospice chaplains respect the spiritual beliefs of each patient as well as the family’s cultural traditions. Our hospice chaplains work closely with the patient’s clergy when requested.

What does the LifeChoice chaplain do in hospice?

The LifeChoice hospice chaplain plays a critical role since many individuals seek solace in spirituality during their final days of life. A chaplain’s professional spiritual care and guidance is crucial in assisting patients in finding peace, as well as the family, friends, and caregivers who care for them. We can comprehend the extraordinary degree of spiritual support that each hospice patient receives on the end-of-life journey by having a greater grasp of the role of the hospice chaplain, their objectives for care, and how they deliver that care.

A Hospice chaplain is part of a dynamic set of professionals referred to as the core hospice team. This team includes the Medical Director, Registered Nurses, and Social workers. Each member plays an integral part in developing a patient-specific plan of care that envelopes every person’s physical, emotional, and psychosocial well-being on hospice services. 

A Chaplain’s initial visit and assessment happen in the first five days of having hospice services. Their assessment plays a key role in assisting with all areas of care, not limited to just spirituality. 

How our chaplains help patients

Our chaplain’s primary goal is to satisfy the patient’s needs and follow their desires while offering care and spiritual guidance. After the first visit, a patient is under no obligation to interact with a hospice chaplain or any other type of spiritual care provider. The patient is free to decide not to participate at any time; it is completely voluntary.

LifeChoice chaplains aim to meet patients where they are on their spiritual journey and assist them in finding new meaning and spiritual serenity rather than trying to convert or baptize them into a particular faith. The goal of a chaplain is to offer patients compassionate spiritual support and guidance, regardless of their religion, faith, or culture.

LifeChoice chaplains help patients spiritually prepare for the end of life.

As a terminally ill individual approach the end of life, intense and complicated emotions such as rage, depression, and guilt can take root, which is understandable. Patients may also begin to doubt the meaning of life, their purpose in life, and whether their life was worthwhile.

The LifeChoice hospice chaplain’s role is to guide patients to a position of spiritual health by assisting them in seeing the value of their existence and the good influence on others. While the chaplain may not provide all of the answers a patient is looking for, expressing these emotions is healthy and having these dialogues can help pave the way toward recovery.

Chaplains help ensure that no patient dies alone.

A cornerstone of the hospice philosophy of care is that no one should be alone at the end of life. No matter the time of day or night, the LifeChoice hospice team, including our hospice chaplain, is dedicated to ensuring that no patient dies alone and that each patient is surrounded by comforting, compassionate friends at the end of life.

How the LifeChoice Hospice Chaplains Help Families

While the chaplain, as a part of our hospice care team, is focused on providing the patient with the care they require, families also get emotional and spiritual support.

Following a senior’s terminal diagnosis, the patient’s family may begin to question long-held spiritual convictions, and the family may eventually reject their spirituality as their spiritual health deteriorates.

Our chaplains play an essential role in enhancing a family’s spiritual health by assisting families in understanding the value of their spirituality, the strength it provides, and the authentic influence correct spiritual health has on mental and physical well-being.

The LifeChoice chaplains respond to the spiritual distress of families.

The news of a loved one’s terminal diagnosis and the day-to-day process of their loved one’s end-of-life journey significantly impacts the patient’s family.

The end-of-life process naturally takes a spiritual toll on a patient’s family, who may become confused, angry, guilt-ridden, or doubt the meaning of existence itself.

Our chaplains serve as compassionate listeners and spiritual counselors for families in this position, helping them to vent their anxieties, voice their concerns, and begin to work through these difficult emotions.

A Chaplain’s Role in Bereavement

Chaplains play an essential role in assisting the family in understanding their feelings and how to move forward toward healing after their loved one has passed. A LifeChoice chaplain’s time with the family can extend up to 13 months after a patient’s death. Often, chaplains and social workers work together to develop bereavement plans for families.

Hospice chaplains spend their time and energy learning about the world’s various cultures and religions, as well as the needs of the human soul as a whole.

Hospice chaplains have the unique ability, as a result of their study and devotion, to restore a terminally ill patient’s sense of purpose and meaning, to reinvigorate the hearts of families and caregivers, and to be a bastion of spiritual support to those providing the highest level of end-of-life care.

Meet Our Amazing Chaplains

Lights. Camera. Action! A few minutes into a front row and center stage interview with our dynamic chaplain duo, we realized these tickets were SO worth it! One is an impassioned, dedicated community leader and is ordained,  with a PhD in Theology and his very own television show. The other is a creative, purple-haired, past professional singer who is also an ordained minister with over 7 nationally recognized certifications in Senior care, Veteran care, and Alzheimer’s Disease care. Ladies and Gentlemen, put your hands together for…Rabbi Doug and Reverend Carlene!

How did your paths lead you into Hospice Care?

Rev. Carlene: I became ill in 2006, and that same year my father passed. I decided to take a year off and resigned from being a church pastor. My mother passed on hospice care in her home in 2007.. Three months to the day, after her passing, I took my first step into hospice. 

Rabbi Doug: I started volunteering as a Rabbi in the hospital setting. I would be on-call if a Jewish family needed spiritual support, introducing me to end-of-life care. I then started volunteering for a local hospice.

What makes chaplaincy different in the hospice setting?

Rabbi Doug: I get an opportunity to provide comfort and support to multiple faiths and denominations in the hospice setting. In hospice, It does not matter what accomplishments sit on your resume. In this field of work, it takes a very special person to dedicate their days to end-of-life care. 

Rev. Carlene: Many people ask me if hospice is sad, and I always tell them that hospice energizes and rewards a person called to it. Education is much more extensive for families caring for individuals living with a neurocognitive disorder like Alzheimer’s Disease and going through end-of-life care. 

What is an interesting fact about you?

Rabbi Doug: Hospice is my main profession, but I am the Rabbi of a local Synagogue, and I also host my own television show called Taped with Rabi Doug. We discuss a variety of topics with multiple guest personalities. 

Rev. Carlene: I dye my hair purple for Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness, and I used to be a professional singer and 12 string guitarist. I see great success when incorporating music into my visits, especially with our Dementia patients who often have trouble verbalizing. They are quickly comforted.  I’ll play or sing a song from their past, and an individual who may only speak 6 words a day can sometimes sing an entire song perfectly from memory.