European Network of Health Care Chaplaincy

  Health Care Chaplaincy in the Netherlands

DUTCH ASSOCIATION OF SPIRITUAL CAREGIVERS IN HEALTH CARE INSTITUTIONS (VGVZ)

Website:  www.vgvz.nl

The Association of Spiritual Caregivers in Health Care Institutions (Vereniging van Geestelijk Verzorger in Zorginstellingen: de VGVZ) is a professional body meant for every spiritual caregiver working in healthcare in the Netherlands.

Spiritual care/chaplaincy in healthcare institutions is the professional and ministerial support and help given to patients, by giving meaning to their life, from and on the basis of belief or ideological conviction and the professional advising in ethical and/or ideological care and management.

History 
The Association of Spiritual Caregivers was founded in 1971 by a coming together of the Roman Catholic and the Protestant Hospital Associations into a National Council of Hospitals. Corresponding to this development, with the conviction that chaplaincy services belong to all kinds of hospitals, the neutral as well as the confessional, the Roman Catholic and the Protestant Associations of Chaplains in Health Care Institutes united themselves into one association. Several years later the Humanist and the Jewish chaplains joined the association. A few years ago Imams and Pandits who are spiritual caregivers in health care as well, became members of the association. From the beginning the association worked to develop the quality of the profession of spiritual caregiver. The Association works within healthcare with five designated groups (the government, employer-organisations, churches and other denominational-institutes, insurance-companies and patient organisations). Spiritual care has for many years been integrated into the central budget financing by the national care insurance companies. And in 1995 spiritual care was given legal status in the Quality Law for Care Institutes. In 1995 and in 2002 the five designated groups agreed on The Professional Standards of the Spiritual Care in Healthcare Organisations. The standards contain a profession profile, description of the tasks and the (new) quality demands and the (new) professional code. In 2002 a new registration system was developed.

Structure 
The VGVZ consists of about 825 members. A chaplain can become a member if he/she is working in a health care institute with a minimum of 8 hours; if he/she has an academic degree in theology or in humanistic science; if he/she has a commitment to a church or an ideological society. The association consists of five sections, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Humanist, Jewish, Islamic and Hindu and five working-fields: general hospitals, psychiatric institutes, nursing homes and elderly homes, institutions for the mentally handicapped and rehabilitation centres. Every Section and working-field has his own council. Each section and each working-field provides one member for the general board; this general board looks after the common interests of spiritual care (see aims). The sections and working fields support the special interests related to the different churches, ideological organisations and working area.

Aims 
The most important aim is to promote and support spiritual care in health care. Therefore the association supports: 

• the integration of chaplaincy in health care 
• the development of the quality of chaplaincy care
• professional training for chaplains 
• problem solving in working affairs 
• collective working conditions

Activities 
The VGVZ realises its aims through : 

• the organisation of symposia and annual meetings
• enabling scientific research and theory
• development of standards and quality systems
• development of models for intercollegiate testing and visiting; 
• development of a new system for registration
• installation committees for working out important matters in notes etc 
• publication of the magazine Spiritual Care 
• enabling training for spiritual caregivers in contact with institutes for education
• solving problems in working affairs 
• working on collective employment conditions together with the Union (FHZ)

Communication 
The association is autonomous, but has many relations with others. So there are many contacts with other organisations in the five designated groups (see History). There are contacts with the initial academic and post-academic institutes for education. There are international contacts with the European Network of Health Care Chaplaincy and other professional associations for health care chaplaincy (England, USA).

Important Issues for the future 

• to develop spiritual care in out-patient care setting
• to implement the Professional Register
• to further develop models for quality-testing systems and intercollegiate tests
• to follow the development of healthcare in the Netherlands on the level of the national political level and level healthcare provider and the healthcare insurance
• to improve our own structure of organisation
• to evaluate the commitment to a church or an ideological society (see Structure) as a rule of membership of the VGVZ
• to improve, also by research, the financial position of spiritual
  caregivers in contact with the government

Anneke Kemper
President of VGVZ.

Anneke Kemper

Drs Anneke Kemper is the President of VGVZ. She writes: "I am 50 years old and have five children between 20 and 14. I am Roman Catholic by baptism and work full time in Mediant, a psychiatric institute in Enschede, Holland. I also have another little job, a teacher in practical theology for eight hours a week.
I like sports: hockey, tennis and running. I am learning to sing."

Robert Koorneef

Drs. Robert Koorneef is the secretary of VGVZ. He writes: "I am 52 years old and have 2 children, 22 and 20 years old. I am Protestant by baptism and work nearly full time in de Tjongerschans, a hospital in Heerenveen, Holland. I practice skating and yoga, collect books about speedskating and like to read literature".

Top

[May 2008]