OSHKOSH, Wis. (AP) — In hospitals, manufacturing plants and Goodwill stores, chaplains — once designated solely for hospice patients and military bases — are helping with the mental health of employees, and, their companies say, the bottom line.
As director for spiritual services for the eastern region of Affinity Health Services, Rev. Karin Derenne oversees 10 chaplains at St. Elizabeth's Hospital, Mercy Medical Center in Oshkosh and Calumet Medical Center in Chilton who support employees as well as patients and families, USA Today Network-Wisconsin (http://post.cr/1SZirzM ) reported.
Whether it's just chatting with employees about what is and isn't going well, or holding a "stress debriefing" after the ER team responds to a serious incident, the chaplains mind the spiritual and mental health of employees. Derenne said it helps employees be whole themselves while also living out Affinity's mission.
"Health care is filled with lots of things they can't control," Derenne said. "... You don't go home from experiences like that the same as you came."
Just as a doctor may need to minimize the trauma after treating a patient from a bad shooting, a manufacturing plant worker may need a workplace chaplain's services after witnessing a workplace injury on the assembly line. Chaplains can be especially good outreach for middle-aged men, whose mental health is both at-risk and hard to address.
This can be in the form of praying, or just nondenominational chatting, over a break. Or the chaplain can help the employee connect with more comprehensive mental health services.
Rev. John McFadden, who started Goodwill Industries of North Central Wisconsin's work chaplaincy program about a decade ago, said back then such programs at work were rare, except in the south where religion is more integrated in daily life.
Employers often default to their Employee Assistance Programs, or EAPS, for the health of workers outside of work. But utilization of these programs is notoriously low.
"If you are struggling in your marriage or within an addiction, one of the scariest thoughts is to pull off a sheet of paper with a phone number on it in the break room and call someone you don't know," McFadden said.
When McFadden created Goodwill's chaplaincy program, he set out to increase EAP rates.
He had informal meetings with every ThedaCare therapist the company had available for employees through its EAP, so he knew personally whom to refer employees to when they needed more help. If a Goodwill worker leaned toward taking advantage and seeking counseling, McFadden would seize on the momentum.
"If somebody said, 'Yeah, I'll call them someday,' I'd whip out my cellphone and say, 'I'll call them right now,'" he said.
He tripled usage of the assistance program in just a few years.
While the workplace chaplains are strategically nondenominational, the idea of confiding in a pastor can also be more approachable.
"If an employer had a chaplain there versus EAP, and they're a faith-based person, they would feel comfortable going and talking to that pastor," said Cindy Reffke, a board member of Prevent Suicide Fox Cities.
Derenne said the Affinity chaplains often encourage employees to connect with their own faith communities.
"Sometimes the social isolation is difficult for people coping," she said.
Tyson Foods, which has plants in Green Bay and New London, is revered for its chaplaincy program nationwide. Mike Tarvin leads the team of more than 90 chaplains, many of whom are religious leaders in the same towns as the production facilities.
"They're out on the production floor and in the break areas making themselves available to team members," Tarvin said.
The chaplains even wear the same uniforms as workers.
If an employee wants to talk, they can chat in the break time or over lunch, or pick up the conversation after a shift. Sometimes that's enough, or it leads to a connection to health care services out in the community.
Tarvin said he believes the chaplains touch employees' mental health indirectly.
Common concerns the chaplains hear have to do with grief, depression and suicidal thoughts, or concerns around home issues, like marriage and family members.
Companies with chaplains say besides being the right thing to do, helping employees' mental health helps the bottom line and increases safety, especially in manufacturing.
"Anyone in human resources can tell you the worst workplace things happen on Monday because the home is far more stressful than the workplace. People are burned out, they've had fights, struggles with children, spouse," McFadden said. "If (employees) know on Monday they can talk to someone who will be supportive and helpful, right there they will address to some degree that Monday absenteeism."
Tarvin said at Tyson, the chaplains have lowered absenteeism and turnover. And in the dangerous manufacturing industry, the company also sees the chaplains as lowering the risk of workplace injury.
"A team member who's able to kind of unburden themselves," he said, "and maybe get some help, is better able to focus."
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Information from: Oshkosh Northwestern Media, https://www.thenorthwestern.com/