Chaplaincy provides spiritual support for specific groups and has become more prominent through tragic events. Chaplains fulfill an important role by allowing expression of emotions that can't be scientifically explained, bringing peace during change, hope in death, and joy in suffering. A study found chaplains provide activities that both enable their work but also make it vulnerable. Chaplains now do more community work, administration, mediation, bereavement support, and both religious and non-religious rituals. There is potential for gerontological chaplaincy to provide end of life discussions and support around finding meaning for older adults.

1. THE PROMISE OF
CHAPLAINCY
Harriet Mowat
Keith Albans

2. The journey so far..
• Chaplaincy is provided to support religious lives of
particular groups or individuals.
• Awareness of value of chaplaincy recently heightened by
• Lockerbie
• Piper alpha
• Padres in army in Afghanistan
• NHS and humanism

3. Why does chaplaincy survive?
• Challenge to empiricism
• Metaphor for present but invisible values and beliefs
• Gives permission for unscientific and “unspeakable”
emotions and feelings
• Love in strangeness
• Peace in change
• Hope in death
• Joy in suffering

4. What do Chaplains do?
• NHS study 2006 Mowat and Swinton
• The very activities that make chaplaincy viable also make
it vulnerable

5. Recent changes and challenges
• What do chaplains do now?
• Community work- in place of church and parish work
• Admin
• Mediation and negotiation in grievances
• Bereavement and loss
• Non religious and religious Rituals

6. Community Pull
• Scottish examples of developments
• Community Chaplaincy listening (CCL)
• Values based reflective practice
• Blether

7. Gerontological chaplaincy
• Is there a case
• Adaptive capacity research with chaplains
• Special needs of older people?
• End of life discussions
• Particular end of life needs
• Encore, meaning of life stuff

8. Methodist Homes Chaplaincy
• Background
• Who pays
• Current Research

9. What is the promise of chaplaincy
for older people
• Discussion