Improving Spiritual Care to Bridge the Gap Between Demand and Supply of Healthcare Services in South Africa

ABSTRACT: This article assesses the efficacy and sufficiency of spiritual care and calls for deliberate improvement to bridge the gap between the overwhelming demand and depleting supply of healthcare services in South Africa. Without disregard for other spiritual care groups, this article investigates the activities of healthcare chaplains and a few healthcare organizations in two municipalities in Gauteng which are Johannesburg and Tshwane. As a primary source, a mixed research method was used to collect data from healthcare chaplains, nursing managers, and hospital human resource managers. The outcome agrees with the global statistics that healthcare demand is rising while its supply is depleting. This leads to the question of necessary alternatives to bridge the gap between healthcare demand and supply. Consequently, this article recommends that healthcare chaplaincies, government health departments, healthcare organizations, theological institutions, community leaders, and healthcare professionals should pay more attention to improved spiritual care as an essential alternative support system in healthcare services.     KEYWORDS: Chaplaincy, demand, supply, efficacy, sufficiency, spiritual care