The spirituality of caregiving: With reference to clinical pastoral training in Hong Kong

The context for this study is the researcher’s professional context as a supervisor of Clinical Pastoral Care Training (CPT) for Hong Kong spiritual caregivers. The purpose of the study is to enhance the researcher’s professional practice by exploring the understanding of spirituality held by Hong Kong Chinese spiritual caregivers and the kinds of influences that might have shaped their understanding and practice. My professional interaction with trainees as a CPT supervisor revealed a confused understanding of spirituality among Hong Kong Chinese spiritual caregivers, and resulting difficulties in their practice in the local healthcare services. Engagement with the literature in four contexts: spirituality in the healthcare service, in Christianity, in CPT, and in Hong Kong Chinese culture, highlighted confusion within each context and conflict between the different influences. In light of this conceptual framework, qualitative interviews were conducted with three chaplains and three registered nurses to uncover the understanding of spirituality held by Hong Kong Chinese spiritual caregivers and the kinds of influences that might have shaped their understanding and practice. The aim was to explore their experiences in caregiving and CPT so that future training might better address the needs of Hong Kong Chinese spiritual caregivers. The dynamics between the four shaping influences—the healthcare system, Christianity, CPT and cultural factors—were important in shaping the participants’ understanding and practice and also led to identity confusion. Within this complex set of relations, four related concepts were drawn out in connection with the meaning of spirituality. Spirituality was found to be about the person, about God, about relationships, and about love. The identification of these four diffused concepts of spirituality and the analysis of the dynamics between the four different influences affecting spiritual caregivers’ understanding is the contribution this study makes to knowledge. The research process enhanced the researcher’s intellectual and professional understanding of a certain confusion about spirituality in the Hong Kong healthcare context. A modest change to practice is recommended, so that CPT may address this confusion that is evident among Hong Kong Chinese health caregivers.