Unplugged: How Spiritual Care Providers Address Professional Isolation and Patient Loneliness in Digital Healthcare Settings
The digitalization of healthcare fundamentally changes how, when and where spiritual carecan be delivered. Historically rooted in bedside presence, chaplaincy increasingly operates in a highly structured and technologically mediated clinical infrastructure. This presentation explores the frictionbetween conventional spiritual care practices and digital healthcare systems: Healthcare chaplains in Europe and the U.S. are often disconnected — unplugged — from digital workflows, with far-reaching implications for their ability to care for patients across the continuum of care. In an environment in which much interprofessional communication occurs through digital means, disconnection may produce or a sense of a loneness and professional isolation. For patients, the growing reliance on technology in healthcare may also exacerbate experiences of isolation and abandonment. This presentation explores current research and professional responses to this development. Initiatives such as the Telechaplaincy Community of Practice (www.telechaplaincy.io) are discussed as attempts to alleviate professional isolation and empower
FABIAN WINIGER | University of Zürich
Cycle of Seminars: “Solitude and Communion in Religion and Ethics“
Scientific coordination: Massimo Leone, FBK-ISR
The speaker will connect remotely.
The event, organized by FBK’s Center for Religious Studies, will be held in English.
Registration by July 3, 2026 at 12:00 a.m. is required so as to arrange the connection.
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Image: AdobeStock_518968971
Speakers
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Fabian Winiger - Guest SpeakerUniversity of ZürichDr. Fabian Winiger is a Senior Research Fellow at the Professorship for Spiritual Care within the Faculty of Theology and the Studyof Religions at the University of Zürich. A trained medical anthropologist , he holds an M.Sc. from Oxford University and a Ph.D.from Hong Kong University. His research focuses on spiritual care as an integral, evidence-based aspect of patient-centered care.His main research interests include the digitalization of spiritual care and the role of religion and spirituality in global health andmultilateral organizations. He is the co-founder of the Telechaplaincy Community of Practice and the MEEET Lab. Dr. Winiger hasauthored numerous scientific publications and monographs , and actively leads international projects funded by the Swiss NationalScience Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation.
Registration
Registration to this event is mandatory.
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Organizers
The initiative was also realized thanks to the contribution of "Direzione generale Educazione, ricerca e istituti culturali" of the Ministry of Culture.