Spiritual Caregiving and Assessments for America’s Religious ‘Nones’: A Chaplaincy Perspective

Abstract

One in four American patients now identify as religiously unaffiliated. This study utilizes thematic analysis to deliver qualitative results from in-depth interviews conducted with five chaplains at a premier cancer research institution in Florida to envision what care for their spiritual dimension should look like in practice. It demonstrates why the chaplains interviewed suggested that spiritual caregiving still contributes to their holistic wellbeing, and it suggests how spiritual care and assessments may be provided to so-called religious ‘nones’—or those who identify as spiritual but not religious, not religiously affiliated, secular humanist, atheist, agnostic, and so on. We conclude with a novel spirituality assessment for use while serving this patient population.

Nonreligious Chaplains and Spiritual Care

“…The nonreligious and religiously unaffiliated-taken together, the so-called nones, as in "none of the above" (Vernon 1968)-make up the fastest growing religious group in the United States, accounting for 30% of Americans overall (Pew Research Center 2022) and as many as four in ten members of the Millennial Generation and Generation Z. Nonreligious chaplains have an important role in serving this segment of the population and may be particularly well suited to the work of integrating nonreligion into spiritual care. Current research suggests that a person who is an atheist or is otherwise nonreligious might reject a chaplain out of wariness (Potts et al 2023) or might shut down a conversation with a chaplain if they feel judged for their beliefs (Klitzman et al 2022). These outcomes may be less likely if the chaplain is nonreligious as well.…”