Furthering the Mission: Providence extends spiritual health services to caregivers and families through virtual offerings

RENTON, Wash., July 11, 2024 – Providence, a not-for-profit health system serving the Western U.S., is offering TeleSpiritual Health resources to patients, caregivers (employees) and families, allowing the health system to reach more than 1,000 people virtually across its family of organizations since 2022. Cared for by professional chaplains and guided by the organization’s Mission to serve all, Providence chaplains provide spiritual health services to those seeking support regardless of religious and faith traditions, including those held by the chaplain.

While spiritual health services are available to patients and families, Providence has recently focused efforts on furthering its support of caregivers since the pandemic, who often go through deeply emotional experiences, including spiritual distress, when caring for patients’ illnesses. To address the unique challenges and stressors of working in health care, caregivers have access to a wide range of resources provided by the spiritual health team through virtual platforms. For many, this means grief support, requests for prayer and individualized emotional and spiritual support from a chaplain. Caregivers also can use a screening tool to determine if they might benefit from a virtual visit with a chaplain.

“Providing compassionate care to patients can take a toll on the emotional and spiritual well-being of our caregivers, making it crucial for them to seek resources for support and solace in times of need,” said Theresa Vithayathil Edmonson, vice president of Spiritual Health at Providence. “Our chaplains have done commendable work adapting to this digital modality and providing needed support to our caregivers and their families. I am equally proud of our caregivers for acknowledging their own needs for care.”

Just like in-person services, Providence’s TeleSpiritual is driven by the organization’s steadfast commitment to excellence with every encounter. Through this approach, chaplains serve the unique spiritual health needs of those seeking support with respect to a person’s individual beliefs.

In the two years since launching TeleSpiritual Health, the digital offerings have received overwhelmingly positive feedback, including consistent remarks of feeling heard, supported and grateful for the chaplain's time and insightful guidance, as well the opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations with the chaplain.

About Providence

Providence is a national, not-for-profit Catholic health system comprising a diverse family of organizations and driven by a belief that health is a human right. With 51 hospitals, more than 1,100 physician clinics, senior services, supportive housing, and many other health and educational services, the health system and its partners employ more than 122,000 caregivers serving communities across seven states – Alaska, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, and Washington, with system offices in Renton, Wash., and Irvine, Calif. Learn about our vision of health for a better world at Providence.org.