THE Ukrainian National Qualifications Agency has registered the job of chaplain as an official profession. The agency did so to be able to develop professional standards for chaplains and their assistants working in health care.
With this registration, chaplaincy is officially recognised as an essential element of spiritual and psychological support for Ukrainian patients, Slovoproslovo, an Ukrainian newspaper, said.
The Association of Chaplains in Health Care of Ukraine is tasked with setting up standards for chaplains. To that end, it will appoint a working group that consists of representatives of several religious denominations. Also, the Ministry of Health will participate in the process.
According to the Ukrainian Health Ministry, the process of drafting standards for the profession of chaplaincy should be finished in February 2024 at the latest.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine has drafted an order to create a specialty of “clinical pastoral care”, which includes cycles of specialization and thematic approval. The expectation is that these draft orders will be approved soon.
