When hospice chaplain Lisa Masotta ’87 enters into a patient’s home for HopeHealth in Providence, R.I., she’s careful not to have any expectations.
“You can’t walk in with a hard-and-fast agenda,” explains Masotta. From children to adults, she listens, talks, and prays with those who are dying, their families, and their caregivers.
Part of an interdisciplinary hospice team that includes a medical director, nurse case managers, social workers, certified nurse assistants, and grief counselors, Masotta’s role is to provide spiritual and family support. She’ll take a short religious history to find out a client’s faith background and see what support someone currently has. Masotta may then visit weekly, every few weeks, or with some people, just once. “How often and how long we meet is up to the individual,” she says.
Masotta has long been involved in what she calls “church work.” She majored in philosophy and religion at Colgate before going on to earn her BFA in sculpture from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. A musician and artist, she spent her early career as a church choir director and musician in the Boston area, and worked for nonprofit arts programs.
In 2004, at age 40, she decided to pursue a divinity degree at Harvard. Masotta, who was raised Catholic, was heavily influenced by the late Coleman Barr Brown, Colgate philosophy and religion professor and university chaplain. “His ministry of wise listening and insightful guidance encouraged my sense of vocation,” she says. “He’s still my role model of what it means to be a chaplain.”
She entered Harvard thinking she’d become a parish minister, but a seminar on grief and loss was so impactful that she started considering hospice work. Her experience a decade earlier, with a hospice chaplain who guided Masotta and her family during their mom’s passing, also influenced her decision. She graduated with her MDiv in 2007, served in several part-time hospital chaplaincy positions, and in 2012 completed her Clinical Pastoral Education training. She began working with HopeHealth Hospice in 2015.
With those who are dying, Masotta often focuses on their hopes, fears, and joys, asking questions such as, Who are the people you’re worried about? Who do you want to see and talk to? Do you have any regrets? Are there any projects you want to complete?
“Sometimes I have no idea ahead of time what we’ll talk about, so it’s a discovery process. That’s part of what chaplaincy is — to listen more than speak and follow the person from wherever their starting point is.”
Supporting family and caregivers is another large part of the job. “There’s an epidemic of Alzheimer’s and dementia, and the caregiver may have put their own life on hold for 5–10 years,” she says. “So we discuss the challenges and we validate what they are doing. A lot is asked of families; as a chaplain, I can honor the care they are providing.”
She also emphasizes self-care and encourages caretakers to take a break. Her team provides pre-bereavement support, helping prepare patients and caregivers for the emotional, spiritual, and financial impacts of death and dying.
Masotta occasionally conducts funerals, and she volunteers at a community center for grieving children and teens, using her art training to help kids express their feelings.
“With hospice, we hope that people have a measure of peace at the end of life,” says Masotta, “and if we can be a part of that, then that is sacred work.”