Charting Spiritual Care in Digital Health: Analyses and Perspectives

This final contribution draws together the various lines of discussion. It outlines the main arguments as well as the points of convergence between transnational developments. Taking up the introductory chapters, the reasons for the rapid development of chaplaincy documentation in the last two decades are examined. The rise of charting spiritual care is understood as an aspect of the ongoing digitalization of society and healthcare. At least three further drivers are clearly identifiable: the emergence of a new paradigm of healthcare chaplaincy, the development of interprofessional spiritual care, and remarkable changes in Western societies concerning the role of religion and spirituality in public spaces. In current discussions about recording spiritual care in EMRs, there is a growing convergence on at least four points. First, used as a tool for planning, coordination, and self-evaluation, digital charting can benefit the work of chaplains. Second, it can also have undesired side effects. Third, any future healthcare chaplaincy will have to be a part of the evolving process of digital recording. Fourth, the ongoing change in healthcare and society forces chaplains to become clearer about its nature and role. In sum, the task of charting spiritual care into EMRs might be seen as a bureaucratic burden. However, with its questions of the “who,” the “what,” and the “how,” it touches the heart of chaplaincy as a spiritual profession in healthcare. The paper concludes with an outline of a possible future for the practice of charting spiritual care.