In times of crisis, many people turn to their religious beliefs and spiritual resources for comfort and support. As a result, pastoral care has long been an important part of the clinical healing mission of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Its staff chaplains and chaplain residents from its accredited Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program are assigned to every inpatient area of the hospital; a chaplain is on duty in the hospital 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
But providing this around-the-clock coverage – which translates into well over 30,000 patient and family contacts a year – requires additional resources. This is where HUP’s Pastoral Care Volunteer Visitors come in, a specially trained group which provides a supportive presence on the units.
Not everyone has what it takes to be this type of volunteer, said Denise Statham, MTS, MSPCC, administrative chaplain, who oversees the program. “I talk with all potential volunteers, examining their motives and making sure it’s a good match for this setting,” she said. The eight-week training course she developed teaches the specific listening skills they’ll need in HUP’s multicultural, acute-care setting. “These are not social conversations,” Statham said. “They are pastoral conversations which focus only on the patient’s needs.” The sessions also cover other topics, including perinatal loss, loss and grief, cultural diversity, and ethical issues. In the past 10 years, she has trained over 300 people.
The training is so comprehensive that many volunteers have taken their interest in pastoral visits to the next level, enrolling in the CPE program at the hospital. “The difference between those who have taken the training and those who have not is like day and night,” said Jesper Krogsgaard-Jensen, chaplain resident at HUP who works with pastoral volunteers on the units.
Others use the training to help those in their own communities. “Pastors send us deacons and lay people for training,” Statham said. “It’s part of our community outreach.”
There is no “typical” volunteer, Statham said. They come to HUP to help others for many reasons, from all walks of life. Take, for example, Janet Dennis. Every Friday morning, she heads to HUP’s pre-transplant unit, where she spent six weeks before her own heart transplant 10 years ago, as well as the hospital’s post-transplant unit. “I had never been sick and suddenly I was told I needed a new heart,” she said. “I understand how scary it can be.”
But patients find it hard to believe that the cheerful, outgoing, and energized woman they see was ever in their position. Not only did she fully recover but she went on to compete – and excel – in the World Transplant Games. “I have 23 medals – 7 gold, 8 bronze and 8 silver. One of my goals is to set a U.S. record,” she said. “When I tell patients I’m a transplant survivor, they sit up and notice!”
She recalled one post-transplant patient who was in bed, with the blanket pulled right up to her neck. Dennis spoke softly to the patient. “‘You’re petrified because you don’t know the future,’ I told her. ‘You feel like you’ll be hurting forever.’” The woman relaxed a little. She then showed the patient her Team USA photo on her iPad and said, “You can do this next year!’” The next time Dennis passed her room, the patient was telling her son, “I’m going to the Olympics!”
“I have to give back. I’m thankful and grateful,” Dennis said. “Nobody should have to go through this alone.”
Pat Wisch, a psychologist who also trained as a hospital chaplain, has volunteered for 10 years. “I love the immediacy of interaction with patients, talking about what’s going on in their lives now,” she said.
On one of her assigned units, she speaks with patients who are battling cancer. “My heart breaks, especially with young patients,” she said. But that doesn’t keep her from reaching out. “Sometimes, before I enter a room, I take a deep breath and silently pray, ‘Help me be strong.’”
Statham said a lot more professional people are volunteering for the program, looking for new dimensions for their own lives. “They feel like they’re getting more out of the program than they’re giving,” she continued. “You come out a patient’s room feeling blessed, that you’ve been there for somebody at a tough time in their life.”
To learn more about HUP’s Pastoral Care Visitor Volunteer program, contact denise.statham@uphs.upenn.edu.
Photo caption: Janet Dennis spends time with heart patient Nancy Vida.