Spiritual Care

At Hennepin Healthcare, the interfaith chaplains who make up the Spiritual Care Department are privileged to provide care and support to patients and family members who are facing a health crisis, new diagnosis, end of life, loss, difficult treatment decisions, loneliness, or other needs of support—while respecting their culture, religion, value systems, traditions, and faith communities. We recognize that spiritual care is an integral part of the healing process, so we are equipped with many tools and opportunities that make a huge difference. Because of the thousands of patients and family members that we are engaging with annually, we rely heavily on philanthropy to support our services. Currently, we provide our patients with various items and sources of comfort, but there is far more that we strive to offer.

Making a gift to the Spiritual Care Department will help support initiatives that support the spiritual and emotional well-being of patients, families, and Hennepin Healthcare staff members. Below you will find some of the efforts that are supported by philanthropy.

 

End of Life Care Patient and Family Support Items

A significant dimension of the Spiritual Care team’s outreach involves trying to enhance the overall experience of patients and families facing end-of-life situations in the hospital, often through the provision of “comfort items.”

 

These materials include:

• A “comfort quilt” – handmade quilts which are placed on the bed of every dying patient and given to the family to take home
• Grief support literature, including age-appropriate material for children
• religious support items such as sacred texts, prayer cards, sage, rosaries, etc.
• Music through the provision of bedside CD players, portable speakers, and CD’s
• Grief follow-up after death usually through the sending of a card and appropriate grief materials.

 

Caring for Your Spirit Staff Support Efforts

Supporting Hennepin Healthcare employees, in both patient and non-patient areas, who are coping with symptoms from toxic stress, secondary trauma, compassion fatigue, and distressing events.