Knowledge Centre for Meaning & Home-Based Chaplaincy

Meaning and purpose deserve a natural place in healthcare and society, especially close to people at home.
The Knowledge Centre for Meaning & Home-Based Chaplaincy connects research, education and practice to make this happen and to actively drive this development.

This Knowledge Centre for Meaning is a national collaborative network in the Netherlands, bringing together chaplains, healthcare and social care organisations, academic institutions and policymakers. Our focus is chaplaincy in the home setting: support for existential and spiritual questions for people living at home, outside institutional care. The Knowledge Centre for Meaning emerged from growing societal and political recognition that attention to meaning and purpose contributes to well-being, health and quality of life – also beyond hospitals and care institutions.

Why is this needed?

Many people with existential or spiritual questions remain outside formal care systems

Meaning and purpose are essential for well-being, but not yet structurally embedded in community care

Collaboration across healthcare, social care and education is crucial for sustainable impact

How do we work?

Our work is organised through publicly funded programmes and projects, in which we bring together chaplains, healthcare and social care professionals, researchers, educators and policymakers. We actively connect practice, research and education, ensuring that knowledge is not developed in isolation but in close interaction with those who use it. Within this collaborative setting, we co-create knowledge, practical tools and training that directly support professionals in their daily work. At the same time, we facilitate ongoing exchange between partners, strengthen professional development, and contribute to the positioning of home-based chaplaincy within both the healthcare system and the social domain. This integrated approach allows us to build a shared knowledge base while continuously improving practice.

We collaborate with:

•   Chaplains and professional associations
•   Healthcare and social care organisations
•   Municipalities and policymakers
•   Universities and universities of applied sciences
•   Community and social domain networks

What do we deliver?

A growing knowledge infrastructure for meaning and chaplaincy

Practical tools and insights for professionals

Strengthening of home-based chaplaincy as a field of practice

A shared narrative on the societal value of meaning and purpose

Building blocks for structural embedding in policy and practice

Why does this work?

This approach is effective because it is grounded in collaboration and real-world practice. By involving professionals, educators and researchers from the start, the knowledge we develop is immediately relevant and applicable. It creates shared ownership across sectors, which increases commitment and accelerates implementation. At the same time, working across organisational and disciplinary boundaries helps to bridge gaps between healthcare, social care and policy. As a result, innovations are not only developed, but also embedded more sustainably in everyday practice and in the systems that support it.

Our ambition and direction

We work towards a future in which attention to meaning and purpose is an integral and self-evident part of healthcare and society, including in people’s home environments. Our ambition is that support for existential and spiritual questions becomes accessible to everyone, not as an exception but as a standard component of care and community support. In this future, home-based chaplaincy is a recognised and well-positioned profession, with a clear role within both healthcare and the social domain. By continuing to strengthen collaboration, build knowledge and support professional development, we contribute to the structural embedding of meaning and chaplaincy in policy, practice and education.