Goals and outcomes of chaplaincy in varying outpatient, primary, and community care contexts

Several studies have examined the goals and outcomes of chaplaincy within institutional settings. Our study contributes to the literature by examining whether chaplaincy goals and outcomes are specific to different outpatient, primary, and community care contexts. We conducted a round of 9 and one of 8 focus groups, with clients, chaplains, and other professionals from five contexts: the Dutch earthquake zone, general healthcare, pediatric palliative care, care for the unhoused, and veteran care. Using an explorative, descriptive and quantitative design, 77 goals and 59 outcomes are compared and categorized in a four-quadrant framework. Our findings show few differences between goals and outcomes of different contexts. However, the goals of care for the unhoused and veterans focus more on the inner experience of the relationship with the chaplain. Non-context-specific goals and outcomes might be related to how chaplaincy is approached, and the context-specific ones to existential concerns in the care contexts.