LITERATURE REVIEW : TRAINING AND ASSESSMENT 4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.3 OUTCOME BASED EDUCATION (OBE) PROBLEM BASED LEARNING (PBL) AND EVIDENCE BASED LEARNING (EBL)
4.3.5 Evidence Based Practice In Pastoral Care And Counseling
or competencies which have been derived through ongoing conversations between supervisors and students and through qualitative evaluation research, culminating in assessing the evaluation scheme for trustworthiness and transference.
This evaluation scheme was deemed necessary and adopted for the evaluation of the pastoral family counselors in the present study and will be discussed in Chapter five of this report.
become psychotherapists. Feminist and womanist pastoral theology have supported pastoral theology as a discipline. Pastoral theology thus presents an integrative, contextual, praxis-orientated form of inquiry (Hunter 2001).
The researcher would prefer an integration of above mentioned paradigms. Within a more professional, structured and informed approach to pastoral counselling, the Scriptural wisdom as a narrative resource emphasised contextual diversity, which was a significant component in the study.
Greer (2003) mentions that the pastoral counsellor needs “insight, hunch, approximation and expert opinion” (Greer 2003: 401). She adds that the pastoral counsellor also relies upon faith and divine guidance. Pastoral counselling as academic discipline and profession adds to the work of the pastor. She challenges pastoral counsellors to apply themselves to basic skills development and learn statistic methodology. Greer states that “with relatively little further investment in training time, pastoral counsellors could become recognized participants in the general mental health community” (Greer 2003:401). Greer encourages pastoral counsellors to maintain their identity within their research studies, which embodies continual reflection and alternation between faith and action (Greer 2003).
The researcher would agree that the specific vantage point of spirituality would add to the existing knowledge base of mental health. Specifically in African culture where health and spirituality are intertwined, pastoral counsellors could inform practice through their involvement in participatory research studies. There is an extensive body of knowledge created through integration of religion and clinical psychology (Van de Kemp 1991).
Brown (1999) reflects on the changes experienced in hospital chaplaincy. Patients spent shorter time, so pastoral care and counselling is limited and only provided to patients who request the service. The chaplaincy received training through clinical pastoral education (CPE). The joint commission of the accreditation of pastoral services
assesses the competence and professional ethics of the chaplain. They provide a profile and religious care standards for the departments of pastoral care, mostly concerned with the availability of service provision. Chaplains must have a theological degree and be able to document their ongoing education, and chart patient care activities. Another requirement is the creation of a spiritual care plan and clinical pastoral pathways. Cusick (according to Brown 1999) designed a pathway from the perspective of the chaplain for ministry to patients with bone marrow transplants and stem cell transfers. He also described the spiritual themes that surface for these patients. CPE and pastoral care departments are working together to assess what it means to be able to provide culturally sensitive, religiously appropriate, and informed pastoral care (Brown 1999).
For the development of the training programme, the merge between a professional and a spiritual relational approach to practice can be achieved in creating spiritual care plans and pastoral pathways for families living with HIV/AIDS.
Evidence based practice in pastoral care and counseling relates to the professional ethics of the pastor. Four of the theological departments of Universities in Southern Africa, together with the World Council of Churches have invited pastors to seminars to further their knowledge on critical ethical topics. Haspel, a visiting research scholar from the University of Marburg provided lectures on the topic: “Christian and sexual ethics in a time of HIV/AIDS. A challenge for public theology”. Haspel commented on the challenge for the church, not only to relate to the medical and social problems related to HIV/AIDS, but to develop a theological concept in dealing with HIV/AIDS, using theology and anthropology, and to develop a respective sexual ethics in order to provide ethical orientation and help people to live responsively in a changing world with HIV/AIDS (Haspel 2004).
The researcher finds it encouraging that there is such emphasis to help establish a contextual ethical dialogue, resulting in an integrated ethics related to sexuality and HIV/AIDS. The challenge would be to continue this dialogue within the training programme and provide ways of discussing similar topics within family structures.
What also warrants mentioning as part of the „state of the art review‟ is the interdisciplinary studies conducted by the Theology Departments of several Universities in Southern Africa. Many of these studies were aimed at poverty alleviation and pastoral care and counselling related to people living with HIV/AIDS. The studies were aimed to inform the church communities about the realities surrounding HIV/AIDS and to create a provision of practice modalities. The departments provided rich description and narratives, creating awareness of cultural discourses and community resilience.
Example of such studies are the research conducted in 2003 at the Department of Practical Theology in Pretoria titled “Unheard stories of people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS about care and the lack of care” (Muller 2003); the study that was conducted by the Department of Practical Theology and Missiology‟s unit for religious demographic research (URDR) at the University of Stellenbosch in 2003 titled: “Congregations as providers of social service and HIV/AIDS” (Erasmus et al 2004) and the School of Religion and Theology of the University of KwaZulu Natal, being affiliated to Sinomlando Centre, for Oral History and Memory Work in Africa, and seeing it as its mission “to integrate as closely as possible teaching, research and community development”
(Denis 2005: vii).
These recent developments point to emphasis on and connectedness with the local church communities in their provision of care and on creating understanding about cultural and contextual dynamics at community level that hinder the reduction of the spread of HIV/AIDS. These studies indicate the importance of ongoing attention to context whilst simultaneously offering therapeutic counselling to families and communities.