FACT, A Chaplain's Tool for Assessing Spiritual Needs in an Acute Care Setting

Abstract

Spiritual histories constitute a genre and are distinct from spiritual screens and spiritual assessments. Five spiritual history tools (CSI-MEMO, FICA, HOPE, FAITH and SPIRIT) are presented as examples of this genre. In comparison, FACT is not a spiritual history tool. Instead, FACT is a spiritual assessment tool designed for chaplaincy use in an acute care setting. Other health care clinicians interested in spiritual care may also find this tool helpful. A reviewer for the Australian Journal of Pastoral Care and Health (AJPCH) commented on a previous article by Mark LaRocca-Pitts as follows: “[T]itling FACT as a spiritual history tool seems unfortunate. FACT does not gather a history in the way a physician gathers a medical history. Rather, it provides information for an assessment, upon which an intervention might be planned.” In response, this article originally appeared in AJPCH (3:2, December 2009) under the title “In FACT, Chaplains Have a Spiritual Assessment Tool” and is reprinted with permission.