Health Care Provider and Faith Diversity - Essay Example

?    Health Care Provider and Faith Diversity Health Care Provider and Faith Diversity Health care is perhaps the most critical public health service since it ensures the sustenance of health and wellbeing of people in the society. Consequently, health care providers are vital in the society. These people are well trained and possess professional skills in fields such as nursing, medical research and medicine (Leslie, 2009). The primary focus of health care providers is the provision of medical care to patients in health centers, hospitals and clinics. However, as a result of faith diversity, health care professionals have to accommodate a variety of beliefs and faith, which facilitate the healing process on the basis of spiritual perspectives. This entails vital elements such as meditation, prayer and feedback from patients on the effectiveness of health care services they receive in health care systems. Health care providers are responsible for the hindrance of diseases, restoration of health and provision of rehabilitation services consistently. This paper will examine the spiritual perspective on healing, taking into consideration several faiths such as Sikh, Buddhism, Native American and Christianity. Throughout the conduct of their duties, health care professionals consistently come into contact with people from diverse religious practices, as well as faiths. Regardless of people’s religious practices or faith, people fall ill occasionally; hence require constant and quality health care provision. All faiths and religious perspectives consider life as sacred and in need of preservation. Consequently, in the process of health care provision, health care professionals should take into account their patients’ faith diversity and their perspectives on health and healing. This helps foster the provision of superior quality services, which are paramount for the sustenance of health and life. Therefore, there is a need for health care providers to be open minded and possess the desire to offer health care impartially to patients of diverse faiths and religions. According to Harold (2001), this necessitates the appreciation and understanding of faith diversity. Diverse religions encompass contrasting, as well as similar perspectives to health care provision to its followers. For instance, the Sikh religion provides that when people fall ill, they should engage in prayer to seek God’s guidance and assistance in order to attain conciliation and tranquility. This practice provides Sikhs with both spiritual and bodily strength, which, in turn, facilitates cleansing and healing (Harold, 2001). Sikhs typically believe that sickness originates from God, albeit with a distinct purpose. They believe that while God is caring and has the capacity to heal, they need to seek medical assistance. As a consequence, medical professionals should never interrupt Sikh patients when they are praying. On the other hand, Native Americans have strong beliefs that people typically fall sick as a result of the imparity particularly of the spirit, body and mind. Native Americans immensely believe in the power of meditation and prayer in order to attain clarity, as well as cohesion in the bond between the spirit, mind and body. Consequently, throughout the course of health care provision to Native Americans, spiritual elders engage the patients in sessions of prayer and meditation. The beliefs of Native Americans are deeply rooted in the ground, earth, as well as earth’s inhabitants. The Buddhism perspective regarding health care is that Buddhists heavily rely on meditation of the mind, as well as affection in order to ensure the attainment of stability, which consequently fosters healing. Buddhist patients, as well as those around them typically perform meditation in private. Buddhism highly regards women and affords them special health care primarily because of their roles in child bearing and rearing. In essence, Buddhists believe that it is paramount to maintain bodily tranquility through meditation, which is the key to healing (Leslie, 2009). According to the Christian perspective, Christians believe in the existence of one God who has a son called Jesus Christ as indicated in the Holy Bible. Christians believe that God is the originator of both life and death. Therefore, Christian religious practices entail Bible reading, praying and making use of anointing oils, which are primarily sacred ointments applied to the sick people’s bodies to facilitate healing. Christianity also requires church elders, family and friends to visit and pray for patients. Notably, the greatest similarity between the aforementioned religions is their use of meditation and prayer throughout health care provision. All religions also require an intense sense of privacy during the conduct of religious practices. Health care providers should consider patients’ spiritual beliefs, vital faith elements such as meditation and prayer, as well as patients’ opinions regarding the effectiveness of care provided. Sikh’s spiritual view regarding healing is that it occurs when both prayer and the reading of the guru granth sahib (holy word) cleanse the body and spirit. Religious music also offers peace of mind and strength while prayer and the recitation of sacred hymns enhance forgiveness from god Waheguru thereby enabling cleansing, tranquility and conciliation. Sikh patients require calm, spacious and tidy rooms for prayer purposes. Sikhs also prefer doctors from the same religion to enable smooth care provision. However, whenever Sikh’s expectations are fulfilled, they consider health care and providers with appreciation and courtesy. Notably, Christianity and Sikhism share belief in the power of prayer for healing and the need to see God’s cleaning and forgiveness. The primary difference is that Christian patients do not recite hymns or play holy music to facilitate healing (Henry 2004). Native Americans believe that healing is pegged on clarity in the bond between the spirit, mind and body; therefore, imparity or instability in these elements deters effective healing. Native Americans strongly believe in the power of meditation and prayer to link the mind, spirit and body. Conversely, prayer serves to show appreciation for life and nature. Health care givers should appreciate Native Americans’ needs for constant meditation and allow for visitation from spiritual elders to facilitate healing (Harold, 2002). Through this, Native American patients feel honored, revered and appreciated noting the significance of health care providers in the patients’ speedy recovery. Christians and Native Americans use prayer and meditation to provide direction. Conversely, Buddhists believe that healing occurs inwardly and no god is responsible for people’s wellbeing or health, but rather believe that people’s lives determine their wellbeing and health. According to Buddhism, the body is sacred hence no contamination or impurity should be imposed on it. Buddhism upholds health and respects health care providers based on the doctrines of purity and selfless generosity. The most notable difference between Buddhist and Christian beliefs and practices is that Buddhists do not believe in God or a supreme deity responsible for people’s health and wellbeing. All the aforementioned religions perceive health as the most crucial element in existence; thus uphold the sustenance of life and health through medical care coupled with religious practices to facilitate healing. It is evident that the themes of healing, spiritual beliefs and faith diversification are deeply rooted in religion. Healing is a significant point of discussion in health care provision (Harold, 2001). Diverse religions have differing manners of engaging in these practices. For instance, Native Americans utilize prayer, visitation and mediation to facilitate healing; the Sikhs recite hymns, pray and play holy music to enhance the healing process and Buddhists believe that they are the custodians of their own health. A sense of harmony and mutual appreciation ensues when health care providers accommodate and revere the religious beliefs and practices of their patients. Spiritual beliefs are key elements in health care provision since they allow for the understanding of diversity of views held and expressed by various religions. Spiritual beliefs are the basis for healing in religions; for instance, Christians believe in God and Jesus Christ, Native Americans believe in a supreme deity and the Sikhs believe in Waheguru. It is evident that various religions have diverse spiritual beliefs and practices that facilitate healing. There is a need to ensure harmony between these beliefs and practices and the process of health care provision. References Harold, G. K. (2001). Hand book of religion and health. New York: Oxford University Press. Harold, G. K. (2002). The living between religion and health. New York: Oxford University Press. Henry, S. S. (2004). Spiritually, health and wholeness: An introduction to guide for health care professionals. New York: Harwork Press. Leslie, D. (2009). Healing and transformation through self guided imagery. 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