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How We Do Chaplaincy: A Case Study of South Australian Chaplains' Understanding About Their Way of Doing Chaplaincy
(2010) Aiken, Christopher C.
This aim of the research was to identify how Christian chaplains understand and practise their ministry in South Australian public hospitals. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used and a thematic analysis was applied to the quantitative data. A hybrid of inductive and deductive methods was employed. Chaplains were asked about the roles that they were involved in, those that were important to them and those from which they derived satisfaction. The research indicated that there was a clear understanding by chaplains that their role is relational with an emphasis on patient care and for some an engagement with hospital staff. A number embraced change and are integrated into the life of the hospital in which they work. The adoption of a more inclusive model of chaplaincy was suggested by a number. A Chaplaincy Practice Code was developed to describe chaplaincy by combining two existing chaplaincy codes which on their own proved inadequate for a complete analysis. Recommendations for the development of chaplaincy SA were included.