Assessing Spiritual Needs

by George Fitchett

How do pastors, chaplains, and caregivers assess the spiritual well-being and needs of the people they minister to? George Fitchett presents a model for spiritual assessment that he and his colleagues developed, illustrated with case studies. He reviews a number of other models and provides a six-part framework for evaluating them. Pastoral caregivers find that the effectiveness of their ministry is enhanced when they are able accurately to identify problem areas and needs in the spiritual lives of the people with whom they work. This book addresses many of the questions pastoral caregivers have raised about this timely topic and provides an informed and balanced approach for making decisions about spiritual assessment models and tools. George Fitchett is associate professor and director of research and spiritual assessment in the Department of Religion, Health, and Human Values at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, Chicago.

Genres: Spirituality, Nonfiction

136 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1993

Reviews

[Marcus · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be fair, the rating of three stars is after reading and learning a lot more about spiritual assessment and other models over the years. So nothing blows me away here like it first did. I read this text as a CPE intern years ago, and much has changed in my care provision, knowledge, and skill since then. Make no mistake, this book is classic-- seminal!-- and always will be. But on this read, I liked the text but didn't love it. Portions of it, or at least some of its emphases, should still be employed in spiritual care training.

[Jax Lawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess I was hoping for a specific instrument for spiritual assessment along with case studies of how that instrument was put to use. Fitchett does provide case studies and a model for spiritual assessment, as well as an evaluation of several other models. Additionally, all of the case studies involve midlife-to-older adults with a Christian background, which is not terribly helpful in my own ministry context.

[Katarina Stenstedt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't help me much in assessing the spiritual needs of people I support.

[Christopher Pokorny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Case studies exploring HOW to assess spirituality. Not the most current document on the matter, but helpful for other disciplines to see into the practice of spiritual assessments.

[Rob O'Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, useful, practical guide for the spiritual assessment of patients in the clinical setting! It, honestly, may be more helpful to pastoral counselors or ministers who engage in spiritual counseling due to the implied long-term nature of the relationship envisioned in this volume.

Although it was authored by a chaplain, in connection to a hospital-based experiment, the time necessary to work through the 7x7 method advocated in this book will elude most chaplains (at least those who work in an emergent or general-care setting). However, it is well-designed and well-planned, and would be helpful to those seeking a quality assessment tool.

In our world of quick care, taking the time to analyze one's spiritual condition is often overlooked or must be completed in the moment of care. Fitchett's tool provides the reflective practitioner the time to process through those initial and follow-up encounters to build a thorough assessment of the person in order to, therefore, develop an appropriate plan of care for that person. This is a really good, user-friendly tool that will help the minister, chaplain or counselor accomplish this task!

[A.L. Stumo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very practical and useful.

[Tomigirl44 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear, concise, practical book on spiritual assessments - it would be nice if the author updated this as it was published 15 years ago, especially in regard to other assessment tools now widely used.

Definitely helpful, and to my awareness the only book of its kind.