Integrating contemplative and spiritual care in outpatient palliative care: A pilot study.

247 Background: Spiritual support is associated with better outcomes in cancer care and at the end of life (1, 2). Consensus guidelines advocate for incorporating spiritual care in the provision of specialist level palliative care (3). Contemplative care practices and chaplaincy interventions have the potential for mitigating existential distress, cultivating prognostic awareness, and fostering spiritual approaches to grieving and coping with advanced cancer. We present the results of a pilot program demonstrating the feasibility and impact of integrating a contemplative care chaplain in an outpatient palliative care program in a culturally diverse patient population in a large, academic cancer center. Methods: Case series and descriptive analysis. A description of 10 cases seen by a contemplative care chaplain in our outpatient palliative care clinic in the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) at Columbia University will be presented. A descriptive analysis using a chaplaincy-centered model...