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HOSPITAL CHAPLAIN'S COST-CONTAINMENT VALUE

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

HOSPITAL CHAPLAIN'S COST-CONTAINMENT VALUE

To the Editor:

Not surprisingly, confession is good not only for the soul but for the body as well, reports Dr. James Penneker, a Southern Methodist University behavioral psychologist (Science Times, Sept. 18). His work shows that a person can benefit physically by having a caring person (chaplain, therapist, doctor) in whom to confide.

Moreover, he reports there is a substantial reduction of medical expenditures by the individual who has access to a listening professional in a crisis time. Those who utilize a professional confidant(e) also have better immune systems and hence are sick less often.

Dr. Penneker's work scientifically validates a theological understanding of the role of a trained minister in a crisis situation. It also emphasizes the advantages of employing hospital chaplains, who can assist a patient in coping with the trauma of illness or surgery. By offering support in a crisis, the chaplain is shortening the patient's hospital care, which can lessen financial costs to the hospital. Perhaps institutions that have curtailed or omitted the use of chaplains can now begin to consider their function as part of the medical staff. Likewise, chaplains can exercise more of their pastoral authority by making known their presence and cost-containment value. It is refreshing when science and religion can clasp hands instead of shaking fists. (Rev.)

ROSITA MATHEWS Protestant Chaplain, Veterans Administration Medical Center New York, Sept. 28, 1984