ABSTRACT
People describing themselves as belonging to the Christian religion were most likely to have made use of the support offered by chaplains. Those with non-Christian religious beliefs made use of chaplains' support to a lesser extent. Recruitment and communication practices may well influence the extent to which non-religious people make use of the support of chaplains. Further research and more targeted surveys of the general public may help improve their understanding. Given the large disparities between Christian, non-Christian, and non-religious access, there is a strong case for such research. The evidence on accessing services does not support the argument that because chaplains and other religious care providers are there for 'all faiths and none', there is no need for non-religious pastoral carers. People who do not regard themselves as belonging to any particular religion are not accessing pastoral care to nearly the same extent as those who belong to a religion.
