Pastoral & Spiritual Care
Pastoral care is one of the main components of the interdisciplinary team at The Connecticut Hospice. A sense of spiritual well-being is closely connected to overall comfort and can even affect the management of pain. By addressing emotional and spiritual concerns alongside physical care, chaplains support the hospice goal at the heart of everything we do: comfort, in all its forms.
What Pastoral Care Can Offer
Pastoral care provides a safe, compassionate space for reflection, conversation, or finding meaning through challenging times. Chaplains listen closely to what patients and families are carrying—questions about illness, fear, faith, meaning, or relationships—and offer support based on each person’s needs.
Pastoral care can include:
- Emotional and spiritual support during serious illness
- Help navigating questions about death, meaning, or uncertainty
- Support for families as a loved one’s care needs change
- Coordination with a patient’s own clergy or faith community, if desired
Spiritual support may center on faith of any denomination, or it may be non-religious, focusing instead on meaning, connection, the natural world, or a sense of purpose.
For some, pastoral care creates a space for forgiveness, healing, or working through unresolved relationships. For others, it opens the door to conversations about death, grief, and meaning at a time when words are hard to find.
Who Can Take Part in Pastoral Care?
Pastoral care is available to everyone, regardless of faith, beliefs, or spiritual background. Patients and loved ones may engage with pastoral care together or individually, and they choose what role, if any, they want spiritual support to play in their hospice or palliative care journey.
Care That Continues
Pastoral care is available 24/7 by request, through inpatient rounds, and through home visits for patients under the care of The Connecticut Hospice. Chaplains work closely with nurses, social workers, physicians, and the bereavement team to ensure spiritual care is integrated into the overall plan of care.
Support continues through death and into bereavement, offering families comfort, guidance, and continuity during and after loss. At every stage, pastoral care honors the hospice philosophy that no one should have to face this journey alone.
Focusing on Patients, Not Profits, Since 1974.
Comprehensive Support Options
Medical Support Measures
Physician-guided care focused on pain relief and symptom management.
Pastoral Care and Spiritual Support
Support for reflection, meaning, or faith, regardless of beliefs or traditions.
Social Work
Guidance and emotional support as families navigate decisions, stress, and change.
Therapies (PT/OT/ST)
Home-based therapies that support safety, function, and independence.
Volunteer Support
Presence and companionship, often from those with personal hospice experience.
Different Locations.
One Approach to Care.
Whether at home, in skilled care or assisted living facilities, or at The Connecticut Hospice’s Branford hospital, we care for patients and families together—because serious illness affects everyone involved.
Our interdisciplinary team collaborates across care settings to support physical comfort and well-being while addressing emotional, social, and spiritual needs.
Care plans are tailored to each individual and adjusted as circumstances change, helping families feel supported, informed, and never alone throughout their journey.
Licensed, Certified, Accredited Hospital
Our 52-bed waterfront hospital is available to all our home care patients, as well as new patients referred by families or our community partners.
This facility provides 24/7 expert-level symptom management, including infused pain medications and rapid dose adjustments for patients whose symptoms cannot be managed at home.
Licensed, Certified, Accredited Home Care
Our home care services support patients in private homes, assisted living communities, and skilled nursing facilities across all levels of palliative and hospice care.
Care is delivered by interdisciplinary teams focused on comfort, caregiver support, and continuity, allowing patients to remain at home whenever clinically appropriate.
Admissions
Admission to The Connecticut Hospice is a collaborative process guided by each patient’s needs and goals of care.
Our team works closely with patients, families, and referring providers to ensure the right level of support, in the right setting, at the right time.
A Comprehensive Approach
At The Connecticut Hospice, families and caregivers are an essential part of the care experience. That’s why we support patients and the people who love them together.
Care plans are shaped around shared goals, personal needs, and what matters most in daily life. Our interdisciplinary team works across settings and services to ensure care is coordinated, responsive, and attentive to the emotional, social, and spiritual well-being of everyone involved.
We help bring clarity and compassion to serious illness, so patients and loved ones can focus on the moments that matter most.
How Can We Help?
Make a Donation
As a local not-for-profit, The Connecticut Hospice relies on donor support to provide individualized services and therapies not fully covered by Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurance.
Your generosity helps ensure that every patient and family receives the care, comfort, and support they need, regardless of circumstances.