Hospital Pastoral Care and Privacy

Greater awareness for the right for data protection leads to conflicts in the collaboration between hospitals and hospital pastors. This Policy Brief examines how the involvement of pastoral care in hospitals in the canton of Zurich can be better regulated in terms of legal requirements for patient data protection. In order to change the current situation, this Policy Brief recommends:

i) to take the Palliative Care Concept as a model,
ii) to change the cantonal and federal legislation and
iii) to use the digital patient file to improve the holistic approach to treatment. 

Stakeholder(s): Representatives from practice, education, and legislation

SLHS Lead: Center for Comparative Constitutional Law and Religion, University of Lucerne

Authors: Martina Tollkühn

Policy Brief: Download PDF

Key Messages: German, English, French, Italian

Summary of Stakeholder Dialogue: Download PDF

Handout: Download PDF

This handout was developed in the context of the policy brief and stakeholder dialogue. It provides information on the right for hospital pastoral care and the access to patient data for the canton of Zurich. It is meant to serve as a basis for discussions and analysis in the hospital setting.