Paging God: Religion in the Halls of Medicine Wendy Cadge Brandeis - PDF document

Paging God: Religion in the Halls of Medicine Wendy Cadge Brandeis University www.wendycadge.com (Photo: Muslim Prayer Room, Texas Children’s Hospital) February 2103 NACC Audio Conferences 1

February 2103 NACC Audio Conferences 2

February 2103 NACC Audio Conferences 3

Recent Statistics • 70-85% of Americans regularly pray for good or better health for themselves or a family member • 72% believe God can cure people given no chance of survival by medical science • 60% of the public and 20% of medical professionals think someone in a persistent vegetative state can be saved by a miracle (Jacobs, Burns, and Jacobs 2008). February 2103 NACC Audio Conferences 4

Fraction of Articles in PubMed Related to Religion/Spirituality 0.4 0.35 0.3 articles 0.25 ed Religion M 0.2 Spirituality b u f all P Religion or Spirituality o 0.15 % 0.1 0.05 0 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 0 0 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 Year PAGI NG GOD Re ligion in the Halls of Me dic ine W ENDY CADGE While the mode rn s cie nce of medicine ofte n s e e ms nothing s hort of miraculous , re ligion s till pla ys an important role in the pas t and pres e nt of many hos pitals . Whe n three -quarte rs of Ame ricans be lieve tha t God can cure people who ha ve bee n give n little or no chance of s urvival by the ir doctors , how do today’s technologically s ophis tica te d health care organiza tions addres s s pirituality and faith? rough a combina tion of interviews with nurs es , doctors , and cha plains acros s the United S ta te s and clos e obs e r- va tion of the ir daily routines , We ndy Cadge takes reade rs ins ide ma jor acade mic me dical ins titutions to explore how toda y’s doctors and hos pitals addres s pra ye r and othe r forms of re ligion and s pirituality. From chape ls to inte ns ive care units to the morgue , hos pital care give rs s peak directly in thes e pages about how re ligion is part of the ir daily work in vis ible and invis ible wa ys . In Pag ing God: Re lig io n in the Halls of Me dic ine , Cadge s hifts a ttention away from the ongo- ing controve rsy about whether faith and s pirituality s hould pla y a role in he alth care and back to the many wa ys tha t thes e powe rful forces already function in healthcare toda y. “From the ope ning narra tive about a Buddhis t monk near dea th to the concluding s tory about a pare nt s e eking pra ye r, Pag ing God is rich with ins ights about the challe nges facing health pra ctitione rs as Ame rica becomes more re ligious ly and ethnically divers e . is is e thnographic res e arch a t its bes t. We ndy Cadge has writte n an impres s ive s tudy tha t s hould be read by eve ryone inte res ted in unders tanding how re ligious dive rs ity is res ha ping our s ocie ty.” —ROBERT WUTHNOW, a uthor of Ame ric a and the Challe ng e s of Re lig ious Dive rs ity “ Pag ing God is es s e ntial reading for thos e inte res te d in the eve r-s hifting place of s pirituality in Ame rican healthcare and s ociety. Wea ving inte rviews from pa tie nts , s taff, doctors and chaplains into a fas cina ting s tory of the power of re ligion and s pirituality in the lives of thos e s truggling with illnes s and dea th, We ndy Cadge ’s s tudy excels in s cie ntific objectivity—but with s e ns itivity to the nuanced role of re ligion in the lives of people involved in the hos pital expe ri- e nce .”—HELEN ROS E EBAUGH, Unive rs ity of Hous ton “ e ble nd of his torical, archival res earch, in-de pth inte rviews and participant obs e rva tion, and vis ual analys is of archeology and des ign in Paging God is powe rful, and We ndy Ca dge ’s a tte mpts to make s e ns e of this pe culiar ye t dominant s ocial world will be e nthus ias tically re ce ived.”—ELIZABETH M. ARMSTRONG, Princeton Unive rs ity S e e re ve rs e for orde r form. THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS www.press.uchicago.edu February 2103 NACC Audio Conferences 5

Chapter Outline for Paging God • c.1 In the Beginning…a Tour • c.2 Looking Back: Glimpses of Religion and Spirituality in the History of Academic Medical Centers • c.3 From Symbols to Silence: The Design and Use of Hospital Chapels • c.4 Wholeness, Presence and Hope: The Perspectives of Hospital Chaplains • c.5 Essential or Optional? How Hospitals Shape Chaplains’ Professional Tasks • c.6 Spirituality and Religion in Intensive Care: Staffs’ Perspectives and Professional Responses • c.7 Why Sickness and Death? Religion and Spirituality in the Ways Intensive Care Unit Staff Make Meaning • c.8 Managing Death: The Personal and Institutional “Dirty Work” of Chaplains • c.9 Conclusions, Looking Forward February 2103 NACC Audio Conferences 6

• Page of prayers Cadge, Wendy and M. Daglian. 2008. “Blessings, Strength, and Guidance: Prayer Frames in a Hospital Prayer Book” Poetics 36: 358-373. All photos and tables in this talk are used with permission. Details and notes are in Paging God: Religion in the Halls of Medicine February 2103 NACC Audio Conferences 7

February 2103 NACC Audio Conferences 8

February 2103 NACC Audio Conferences 9

February 2103 NACC Audio Conferences 10

February 2103 NACC Audio Conferences 11

Paging God: Religion in the Halls of Medicine Wendy Cadge Brandeis University www.wendycadge.com (Photo: Muslim Prayer Room, Texas Children’s Hospital) February 2103 NACC Audio Conferences 12

Religious Distribution of U.S. Population (2007) and Association for Professional Chaplains, National Association for Catholic Chaplains and National Association for Jewish Chaplains (2010) % of U.S. population % of combined APC, Religion NACC, NAJC members Evangelical Protestant 26.3 12.5 Mainline Protestant 18.1 31.8 Catholic 23.9 43.2 Historically Black 6.9 1.1 Churches Mormon 1.7 <1.0 Orthodox .6 <1.0 Jewish 1.7 9.7 Muslim .6 <1.0 Buddhist .7 <1.0 Hindu .4 <1.0 Jehovah’s Witness .7 <1.0 Other Faiths <1.8 <1.0 Unaffiliated 16.1 0 Don’t Know .8 0 February 2103 NACC Audio Conferences 13

Table 1. Chaplaincy Service in U.S. Hospitals Hospitals % of reporting Total Reporting Reporting Year hospitals with Hospitals Hospitals Chaplaincy chaplaincy Service 1954 6049 4036 66.7% 1966 2914 41% 1972 7097 3038 43% 1980 6,965 6,277 3,643 58.0% 1981* 6,933 6,276 3,371 53.7% 1982 6,915 6,277 3,499 55.7% 1983 6,888 6,353 3,670 57.8% 1984 6,872 6,302 3,817 60.6% 1985 6,872 6,304 4,000 63.5% 1992 6,539 5,916 3,175 53.7% 1993 5,789 3,398 58.7% 2002 5,794 4,876 2,581 52.9% 2003 5,764 4,946 2,934 59.3% 2004 5,759 4,854 2,954 60.8% 2005 5,756 4,852 2,999 61.8% 2006 5,747 4,836 3,076 63.6% 2007 5,708 4,899 3,102 63.3% 2008 5,815 4,862 3,136 64.5% 2009 5,795 4,759 3,089 64.9% Table 2. Membership in Professional Chaplaincy Organizations and Percentage of Members Certified as Professional Chaplains Over Time APHA/ Year AMHC College of APC NACC NAJC Chaplains 1945 n/a n/a n/a 1950 n/a n/a n/a 1955 341 n/a n/a n/a 1960 390 n/a n/a n/a 1965 551 566 n/a n/a 1970 781 n/a 784 (53%) n/a 1975 558 (46%) n/a 1630 (69%) n/a 1980 1470 (61%) n/a 2267 n/a 1985 1682 n/a 3222 (69%) n/a 1990 239 (35%) 1899 (67%) n/a 3520 (62%) n/a 1995 176 (44%) 2617 (63%) n/a 3547 (70%) 211 (38%) 2000 n/a n/a 3472 (59%) 3455 (69%) 410 (20%) 2005 n/a n/a 3782 (71%) 3154 (74%) 584 (16%) 2010 n/a n/a 4072 (75%) 2625 (73%) 601 (18%) February 2103 NACC Audio Conferences 14

Chaplaincy Service in U.S. Hospitals (1980 - 2003) 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1992 1993 2002 2003 (Source: Cadge, Wendy, Jeremy Freese, and Nicholas Christakis. 2008. “Hospital Chaplaincy in the United States: A National Overview.” Southern Medical Journal . 101(6):626-630.) February 2103 NACC Audio Conferences 15