How are health care chaplains helpful to bereaved family members? Telephone survey results.

After conducting telephone interviews with 130 next-of-kin whose loved one died, the authors report whether and how chaplains were helpful to these family members. Analysis of their responses indicated that chaplains were helpful in five ways. They provided comfort and support; they helped family members with details before, during, and after death; they acted as surrogate family members until other loved ones arrived; their availability provided a safety net even if contact was limited; and they functioned as a spiritual figure who provided the transition of the patient from earth to heaven. Family members rated the helpfulness of chaplains as midway between very good and excellent.