Edinburgh Napier University

  What we know already
Patients, GPs and chaplains reported very positively overall on the first pilot of the Community Chaplaincy Listening (CCL) service. NHS Managers, GPs and patients would like to see CCL as part of the continuing provision of NHS listening therapies.
What this paper adds
Descriptive statistics of who uses the CCL service and why; patients and chaplains describe what happens in a CCL session; patients report the difference CCL makes to their lives; and an insight into what spiritual listening means in the context of CCL.
Why this is important
CCL is a direct and practical application of the desire of Scottish healthcare policy to provide preventative care in the community. It has potential implications for GP consultations, prescribing patterns and patient medications compliance.
How this impacts on Chaplaincy
Through CCL chaplains have established a new role as specialist spiritual care providers within primary care teams. Chaplains providing spiritual listening sessions can now evidence how listening directly enhances patient wellbeing and resilience.