The effect of Community Chaplaincy Listening (version 1)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Evaluation of the effectiveness of the Community Chaplaincy Listening service.
IRAS ID
221928
Contact name
Austyn Snowden
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
NHS Education Scotland
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 30 days
Research summary
Community Chaplaincy Listening (CCL) involves chaplains meeting with and listening to people referred to them from primary care in order to help them with spiritual needs. Patients are referred to CCL most commonly by their GP. The service is delivered in the General Practice Health Care Centre. Patients meet with the Chaplaincy listener who introduces them to the service. The patients then have as many sessions with the listener as they need to tell their story, consider the existential issues they are facing and feel some sense of resolution or peace with what is currently happening in their life. Sessions routinely last 50 minutes and patients are free to discharge themselves from the listening service at any time, without explanation.
There is evidence that patients benefit from CCL in a number of ways. A recent validation study (Snowden & Telfer, 2017) showed that patients felt they had a more positive outlook, were less anxious and felt more in control as a result of CCL. GP feedback was very positive, with claims that CCL service prevented prescribing, unnecessary onward referrals and reduced attendance at surgery. In brief, CCL appeared to offer better use of resources and have positive impact on the people who attended. In order to explore these promising findings in more detail the service needs to be systematically evaluated. This study will take measurements before and after patients see the listener. It will also gather qualitative data from patients. The aim of the study is to articulate the impact of chaplaincy listening interventions on patient outcomes.
REC name
London - Brighton & Sussex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/0634
Date of REC Opinion
11 May 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion