Spiritual Care

The heart of the educational process employed in the program is highly experiential in nature, having a strong emphasis on emotional intelligence and the practice of self-reflection. Encounters with patients, staff, and fellow interns become occasions for learning the art of entering into the dialogue of profound meaning and or empathic support. This is accomplished through interns learning how to work within the world view of the patient, assisting the patient to express and interpret their experience of their illness in accordance with the patient’s own spiritual values and beliefs.  

Interns spend half of their time with patients and the other half in didactic sessions and supervised group interaction with their peers. For each course/practicum of CPE, interns must complete 400 hours in total, comprised of 200 hours of clinical service with a cooperating healthcare team and 200 hours of experiential group and didactic sessions. A CPE course/practicum can be intensive: around 35 hours per week for 3 months or extended: around 18 hours per week for 6 months. For more information about the CPE education program and CASC certification process feel free to visit the CASC website.

All interns must pass a personal interview indicating their readiness for self-exploration and interpersonal dialogue at the level required for learning the art and science of Spiritual Care in a multi-faith setting. Check the CPE Instructions and pre-requisites before applying.

ESCAT consists of hospital staff chaplains, community faith leaders, and specially trained spiritual care volunteers who are ready to respond when requested to do so by the manager of Spiritual Care Services (SCS). ESCAT is a puzzle piece that fits into the hospital’s existing disaster response plan. The Ottawa Hospital values religious, multi-faith and spiritual support as part of comprehensive patient care on a daily basis. Through ESCAT the Ottawa Hospital is able to augment its spiritual care services with well-trained additional spiritual care support when and where they are most needed.

The ESCAT Guide outlines the structure, process and function of ESCAT pre-disaster, during disaster and post-disaster. This includes information about administrative committees, volunteer recruiting & screening, training workshops, and communication for before, during and after a disaster. The ESCAT Guide provides an outline for the creation and implementation of ESCAT in a hospital of any size in an inner-city, urban, suburban or rural community. Anything in the Guide may be modified to accommodate the specific needs and resources of each hospital within its setting.

You may request a copy of the ESCAT Guide and seek further information at escat@toh.ca.