Spiritual Care Disparities in the Culture of Health in Community Clinics in Massachusetts

Religion and spirituality are well-known, often untapped, social determinants of public health and play a major role in many patients’ lives. This pilot project builds capacity by training Massachusetts federally-qualified health center (FQHC) clinicians and others in facilities that serve low-income residents, to be spiritual care (SC) generalists that promote spiritual wellness in their patients and staff.

This project’s target population is Massachusetts primary care providers, nursing staff, and social workers serving low-income patients. Participating FQHCs include Fenway Community Health in Boston, Charles River Community Health in Brighton and Waltham, Outer Cape Community Health in Provincetown, and possibly South Cove Community Health in Boston. Also included is Bowdoin Street Health Center (BSHC) in Dorchester, a community-based health center licensed and supported by BIDMC. BSHC serves low-income and underserved people. The target patient population is demographically diverse as to ethnicity, race, immigration status, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

For more information on this project, contact Rev. Katie Rimer at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at krimer@bidmc.harvard.edu or Rev. Mary Martha Thiel at Hebrew SeniorLife at marymarthathiel@hsl.harvard.edu.

We will assess the unique needs in each clinical setting (patient demographics, what time/day for training, which clinicians to include, feasibility of two half days of protected time) and secure continuing education credit for nurses, social workers and physicians during the first two months of the grant period. During the next four months, we will build and fine-tune the curriculum. Ideally, each CHC will have two, half-day interactive teaching programs. Project leaders will be flexible with regard to staff’s protected time and can adapt to do the training over a longer period of time, in shorter modules, if needed. The training will include audio-visual materials and opportunities to role-play and engage in reflective exercises. In the second half of the grant period, we will pilot these materials in four to six clinics and assess their effectiveness. By the end of the grant period, we will have:

• A curriculum for Massachusetts CHCs. The curriculum will include modules about
  spiritual screening, spiritual distress, and spiritual care for patients, family members and
  staff.
• Data that assess the effectiveness of this training for clinicians from four to six sites.
• A proposed plan for bringing this clinician training model to scale.