Digital technologies are increasingly part of healthcare: They are used to improve patient treatment, shorten the length of stay in hospital and ensure post-discharge care. Digital spiritual care is part of this development and responds to it.

At this conference, current developments in German-speaking countries were examined and knowledge and experiences from practitioners and academics were exchanged. The aim of this conference was to gain an overview of current developments and to explore and discuss their opportunities and challenges with reference to exemplary examples and innovative projects.

The focus was on current findings from pastoral theological research (Annette Haussmann, junior professor at the University of Heidelberg) as well as on current practical projects such as the “Ankerplatz”, under whose name a platform for digital spiritual care is currently being created (Achim Blackstein, Ev.-luth . Landeskirche Hannover) and experiences with digital spiritual care in Hamburg (Frauke Rörden, Hamburg Church District Association). The current status of digitalization among Swiss spiritual care providers was discussed with reference to a Switzerland-wide survey conducted in March of 2023 (Fabian Winiger, University of Zurich) as well as the SpiCaDoc protocol, which is being introduced in palliative care in Zurich.

International developments were covered with an insight into “eHeart”, a digital spiritual care platform under development in Denmark (Maiken Langhoff Kidholm, Laura Kvorning & Ricko Damberg Nissen, University of Southern Denmark) and a look at “Telechaplaincy” in the USA, where digitalization helps to make spiritual care encounters deeper and more sustainable (Jane Jeuland, Yale New Haven Hospital).

The conference was rounded off with a panel discussion on the prospects for spiritual care in the Swiss healthcare system with contributions from the speakers and Saara Folini (Swiss Professional Association of Spiritual Care in Health Care).