Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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Hospital Chaplain Offers Solace Amid COVID-19

Adam Phillips

   Beyond the physical burdens of COVID-19, the disease can impose an
   emotional and spiritual weight on patients. It extends to their loved
   ones and to the health workers who treat them.

   Matthew Arlyck is staff chaplain at Einstein Medical Center
   Philadelphia in the eastern U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Ordained as a
   Presbyterian minister in January 2019, he joined the center three
   months later. Now 44, Arlyck says the pandemic has challenged his
   ability to provide hands-on solace and comfort. Physical contact and
   nuanced facial expression have been key tools of chaplaincy, he
   explained in a Zoom interview.

   The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

   MATTHEW ARLYCK: I'm so used to the experience of providing support to
   people who are in grief and trauma as such a tactile and physical one.
   I rely so much on nonverbal communication, on people being able to read
   my face, but also for me to be able to read theirs. And so, it's harder
   to have an experience of your impact on people, because I go into a
   patient's room who's COVID positive, then wearing a gown and gloves.
   And if I'm going to be close to them, literally at the bedside, then I
   also would be wearing a face shield. And so, even though I'm wearing a
   mask, my eyes become that much more important in terms of what they
   convey. I can still gesture with my hands.

   VOA: I understand that the hospital chaplain's work isn't only with
   patients but also with the staff.

   Absolutely. That happens both on a very informal basis where we just
   are talking to staff and just checking in with them and seeing how
   they're doing, to much more programmatic efforts of having call-in
   times for prayer, for mindfulness and moments to show appreciation for
   staff. But it's an ongoing challenge, because staff are very busy and
   don't necessarily feel comfortable opening up about how they're
   feeling.

   Are you able to level with each other about these difficulties?

   Oh, yeah. A big part of connecting with them is empathizing and being
   able to be vulnerable and being able to share a little bit about my own
   experience.

   Help me understand why religion and spirituality belong in a hospital.

   I believe that we are all spiritual beings, in that we are all in the
   process of making meaning. And it's been very challenging in this time
   of COVID for people to make meaning of this experience, because it's
   unprecedented, and it's a particularly unsettling time. For some
   people, their beliefs get validated. For others, it really shakes those
   beliefs to their core.

   What my experience has been and what I hear people talking about is the
   interconnectedness, both in ways that are beautiful and kind of
   emotionally supportive, but also in the ways in which our
   interconnectedness is also what right now is dangerous.

   In our hospital, we've had couples that have died, people who have
   lived together for their whole adult lives. And because of that
   closeness that they have, have infected each other and have died
   because of that closeness.

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