BELISOMO, SKYPE SPIRITUAL SUPPORT, VOICES IN BIOETHICS, VOL. 1 (2014-15) 

 

 

© 2015 Randi Belisomo. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the 
Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and 
reproduction, provided the original author and source are credited.  

 

Spiritual Support on Skype for the Seriously Ill 

 

Randi Belisomo 

 

Keywords: end of life care, hospice, religion, Telechaplaincy 

INTRODUCTION 
 

Newly diagnosed and seriously ill patients who need spiritual support, but are unable to travel for it, can 

now access free counseling via Skype or phone from chaplains working with ChaplainsOnHand.org, 

ChaplainCareforVeterans.org and CantBelieveIHaveCancer.org. 

ANALYSIS 
 

The three websites also offer resources to assess spiritual distress, aids in defining 
personal spirituality and guides to end of life decisions. 

“When people are faced with a crisis, somewhere in their minds and in their hearts, they 
ask questions about why this is happening to them,” said Rev. Eric Hall, Presiden t of the 
HealthCare Chaplaincy Network (HCCN), the New York-based nonprofit which launched the 
services in the past year. “We face our own frailty, and people want an answer and to be able 
to talk it out.” 

The initiative reflects a growing prevalence in tele-health, increased outpatient care 
delivery and shorter hospital stays, Hall says. He calls this service one step among many that 
the field of chaplaincy must take to keep up with current modes in providing care.  

Response has reflected demand. CantBelieveIHaveCancer.org attracted 200,000 unique 
visitors in its first four months online. Chaplains of diverse affiliations across the country 
respond to requests for support within 24 hours. 

“People are isolated and alone so much of the time, and spiritual care  is something that 
has often been dismissed and ignored,” said Rev. Amy Strano, HCCN’s Director of Programs 
and Services. In the project’s early months, loneliness has been most frequently cited as the 
factor driving requests for spiritual care. Guilt and questions about suffering have also been 
common.  

“After patients are no longer in the hospital, many find themselves without the spiritual 
support they had while hospitalized,” said Lisa Anderson-Shaw, the University of Illinois 
Hospital and Health System’s Director of Clinical Ethics and a contributing author to Handbook 
for Rural Health Care Ethics: a Practical Guide for Professionals.  

“Many rural areas may not have a church," she said. "Or, the closest church may be many 
miles away, making homebound persons unable to find the spiritual care they wish to have. 
Privacy may also be a concern for patients and families who live in small, rural communities 
and wish to keep health information more private.” 

According to the Pew Research Center, one-fifth of the U.S. public now identifies as 
religiously unaffiliated. The HCCN maintains that this statistic supports the need for this 
service, as chaplains are trained to guide patients through existential questions about 



 

BELISOMO, SKYPE SPIRITUAL SUPPORT, VOICES IN BIOETHICS, VOL. 1 (2014-15) 

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meaning, pain, isolation and relationships - either within or outside of theological frameworks. 

“Back in the day, everyone belonged to a local congregation, and the pastor, the rabbi, or 
the imam came to the house,” said Rev. George Handzo, HCCN’s Director of Health Services, 
Research and Quality. “That day is gone. Our services are aimed at those that for whatever 
reason are thankfully not dying in hospitals. Who reaches out to them? You can’t just send a 
chaplain up and down halls like we used to.” 

Chaplains in the halls of health institutions are increasingly rare. According to the 
Institute of Medicine, only two-thirds of U.S. hospitals have chaplains. However, ". 

“This provides more people access and resources to end of life questions, faith questions 
and prayer,” said Eric Price, spiritual care manager at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s 
Hospital of Chicago, who is not affiliated with the tele-chaplaincy service. “However, many 
hospitals may see this as a more valuable alternative than live face-to-face contact, because it 
is cheaper than a chaplain. At its best, it will offer another tool for the staff chaplain. At its 
worst, it may replace the profession.” 

The HCCN funded the initiative’s roll out and is now seeking grant support and hospital 
partnerships for fiscal sustainability. 

CONCLUSION 
 

Strano acknowledges the limits of tele-chaplaincy, describing it as a “spiritual first-aid” capable of 

connecting patients with local resources for further support. “Something is better than nothing,” she said. 

 

 

*First published at Reuters Health