The role of chaplains in end-of-life decision making: Results of a pilot survey

Objective: The overall aim of this study was to discover how chaplains assess their role within ethically complex end-of-life decisions. Methods: A questionnaire was sent to 256 chaplains working for German health care institutions. Questions about their role and satisfaction as well as demographic data were collected, which included information about the chaplains' integration within multi-professional teams. Results: The response rate was 59%, 141 questionnaires were analyzed. Respondents reported being confronted with decisions concerning the limitation of life-sustaining treatment on average two to three times per month. Nearly 74% were satisfied with the decisions made within these situations. However, only 48% were satisfied with the communication process. Whenever chaplains were integrated within a multi-professional team there was a significantly higher satisfaction with both: the decisions made (p = 0.000) and the communicationprocess (p = 0.000). Significance of the results: Although the results of this study show a relatively high satisfaction among surveyed chaplains with regard to the outcome of decisions, one of the major problems seems to reside in the communication process. A clear integration of chaplains within multi-professional teams (such as palliative care teams) appears to increase the satisfaction with the communication in ethically critical situations.