The Efficacy of Spiritual Care Intervention on Readmissions of Hospitalized Patients Receiving Palliative Care: A Quasi-Experimental Pilot Study Proposal

IntroductionHospital readmissions in the US place a considerable burden on patients and their caregivers. Our study will investigate whether spiritual intervention during a patient's hospital stay contributes to lower rates of readmissions 30 days after hospital discharge.MethodsTwo hundred patients receiving palliative care will be randomized into control (n = 100) and intervention groups (n = 100). The control group will receive a standard spiritual support visit, while the intervention group will receive a spiritual intervention consisting of active listening, compassionate presence, assessment of post-discharge resources, and a supportive phone call 5 to 7 days after discharge. The primary outcome will be hospital readmission within 30 days of discharge. Board-certified chaplains will be allowed to use their individual skillsets but within the standardized ACA spiritual care model. Training chaplains to assess patients in the same way will help with this discrepancy as the same form will be used.DiscussionWe hypothesize that patients who receive spiritual intervention with a supportive phone call will experience fewer hospital readmissions. Spiritual intervention will instill.confidence in those patients at risk of readmission by assuring them that the hospital staff remain concerned about their well-being even after discharge.