How Patients Experience Pastoral Care in a Tertiary Health Care Setting

Abstract

This research aimed to establish the level of consumer experience with pastoral/spiritual care provision in a large tertiary private hospital. Two hundred and twenty-seven patients and bereaved carers of deceased patients who had received pastoral care were surveyed, with a response rate of 20% ( n = 44). The key finding was the positive impact of pastoral care encounters, with the majority of respondents reporting provision of pastoral care to be helpful, and offered with courtesy and respect.