A complied resource of evidence-based research validating and providing guidance for integrating spiritual care into health care settings and other whole person care situations and circumstances. A core focus of HealthCare Chaplaincy Network (HCCN) has always

been the integration of spiritual care into health care in the United

States through evidence-based clinical practice, education, advocacy,

and more. Key to our efforts has been the encouragement and

publication of research. At HCCN's first ever Caring for the Human

Spirit ®Conference in 2014, several groundbreaking studies were

presented, funded by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. At

the time, this was the first large-scale attempt at forming an evidence

base for spiritual care effectiveness in health care. Our hope was that

this conference would act as the launch pad for a rigorous new field of

long-overdue research. Since then, HCCN and its affiliates the

Spiritual Care Association (SCA) and Capstone University, have

become the major innovators and change agents in the field of modern

professional chaplaincy.

Over a five-year period between 2016 and 2021, SCA invested in the

research and publication of nine foundational white papers. These

documents explore aspects of the importance of spiritual care in

various health care settings, including hospital chaplaincy, hospice and

palliative care chaplaincy, the emerging field of telechaplaincy, the

roles of the physician, the nurse, and the social worker in spiritual

care, and more. These foundational papers have now been collected in

a single volume for ease of publication and access. Our hope is that all

chaplains, whether new or experienced in the profession, will benefit

from this work, and that some may become inspired to participate in

further research to push the field of professional chaplaincy in new

directionsThe SpiritualCareAssociation (SCA)was formed to

standardizethefragmentedfieldofprofessionalchaplaincy

trainingbyprovidingresources,education,andcertification

backedbyevidence-basedpracticeandindicatorsofquality

care.TheensuingdevelopmentofCommonStandardsand

QualityIndicatorsinspiritualcareensurethattheskillsand

performanceofSCA-trainedchaplainsandspiritualcaregivers

canbemeasuredobjectively,whichisofvitalimportanceto

hiringmanagersinallhealthcaresettings.Inaddition,new

methodsfortrainingandcredentialinghavebeendevelopedfor

severalnon-chaplain health care groups,including first

responders,physicians,nurses,socialworkers,palliativecare

andhospiceworkers,andvolunteers.TheSCA'sLearning

Centeristhemostextensiveandmostsuccessfulonline

chaplaineducationprogramworldwide,andtheSpiritualCare

Resourcesappisthefirstonlineapplicationthatgivesmobile

accesstothelatestinformationonbestpracticesinspiritual

careforchaplainsworking in health care,hospiceand

palliative care, and first responder settings.