Health Care Provider Faith and Diversity - Research Paper Example

Health Care Provider Faith and Diversity (First Draft) Different religions possess dissimilar belief systems with respect to health care.Thus, health care providers must be aware of different religious beliefs in order to deliver efficient services relating to health care. In the context of health care, spirituality plays a vital part. With this concern, this assignment provides a holistic view of three religions namely Christianity, Buddhism and Sikh. Moreover, the assignment is fundamentally based upon understanding the perspectives of the above three religions in terms of healing. In order to recognize the spiritual view, Spirituality Scale method has been used. The assessment reveals significant similarities and differences among the beliefs of the three religions. Furthermore, the assignment also concentrated on the critical aspects of the religions with respect to health care that should be considered by every health care professional while providing medical services to the patients. Introduction The link between spirituality and patient treatment has been a substantial concern in health care. Spirituality plays a vital part in patients’ life and there exist a relationship between patient’s religious pledge and health consequences. Thus, patients prefer the healthcare providers to consider the religious factors in health care (Anandarajah & Hight, 2001). Different religious groups possess diverse belief system in terms of heath care. Thus, a health care provider must remain aware regarding diverse religious beliefs in order to provide quality medical care. A spiritual assessment is generally regarded as a practical step in integrating patients’ spirituality into health care practice. Spiritual assessment is the procedure through which health care providers can recognize the spiritual requirements of patients relating to their psychological health conditions (Hefner, 2008). Therefore this assignment deals in spiritual assessment of a patient with respect to understanding the religious belief. The objective of the assignment is to recognize how different religion view healing and what are the factors they consider most while receiving significant health care services. Spiritual Assessment Tool In order to undertake the spiritual assessment, I employed the tool of Spirituality Scale. Spirituality Scale is a holistic tool that is intended to evaluate the opinions, perceptions, religious practices and ritual characteristics of patients. In order to evaluate the spirituality, a number of questions have been asked to the patients in order to recognize the viewpoints on healing and other important religious aspects of health care (Delaney, 2012). Description of Interviewees In order to assess spirituality, three patients with different religious backgrounds have been selected comprising Christian, Buddhist and Sikh. Analysis Throughout the interview, I have found that there exist significant similarities as well as differences among Christianity, Buddhism and Sikhism with respect to delivery of health services. In this context, it is worth to mention that remedial activities occur when there lay an appropriate balance between body, mind, spirit and sensation. In response to the question regarding spiritual perspective of healing, Christianity believes that healing necessitates curing of physical, mental, social, psychic and religious aspects. Christian people consider that healing necessitates refurbishment of god (Elder, 2000). From the interview, I have found that in Sikhism, healing is directly related with health. Furthermore, in Sikhism viewpoint, there pertain intricate relationship between mind, body and spirit. Sikh people believe that body is a sanctuary to serve the spirit and to develop interrelation with god. Conversely, Buddhist people possess different perspective on healing. They are quite knowledgeable with the concept of Karma in the field of healing that literally denotes action. They believe that healing requires engaging in positive actions. From the viewpoint of Buddhism, people need to discard the negative paths that are present in the mind (Hawter, 1995). During the interviews, I have found certain resemblances in belief system between Christianity, Buddhism and Sikh as these religions believe in power of meditation. In relation to critical component of healing, Buddhism considers that a patient who practices meditation experiences low level of suffering. Similarly for Sikh people, meditation is a vital part of regular life particularly in the moment of illness. Buddhist and Sikhism people believe that meditation can help to develop confidence among the patients and can also be considered as a vital part in healing. On the other hand, Christian people also believe that practice of meditation can help to heal faster. The interviews also revealed significant differences among Christianity, Buddhism and Sikhism with respect to health care. Unlike Christians, the heath care structure of Buddhists as well as Sikhs concerns one of the imperative religious practices such as yoga. Yoga is intended at conversing cheerfulness that allows the patients to minimize the level of sufferings. Alternatively, Yoga is not a practice for Christian patients. The interview discloses that there are several fields in health care that requires critical thought upon religious beliefs because there are possibilities where physicians or nurses can be affiliated with different religions. Nevertheless, when there are differences between religious interests, the preferences of patient must overcome the health care procedure. For example, with respect to Sikh patients, I have learned that Sikh people have strong family conception and their family system is viewed to be a significant part of their life. Sikh people usually value confidentiality, thus it is crucial for any physician to ask any Sikh patient if he/she is comfortable with conversing the complex health related issues. Sikh people are quite concerned about five K’s (Kirpan, Kangha, Kesh, Kachh and Kara) that are considered as integral parts of their religion. Furthermore, Sikh people also dislike disturbing while a patient is praying. Cleanness is a vital aspect that must be considered by health care professionals (Singh, 2009). With respect to Buddhism, the interview revealed that they provide high significance towards informed agreement and self-determination for any medial aspects. Furthermore, several Buddhist people are quite concerned about taking healthy foods in order to heal faster. Confidentiality is also important for Buddhist patient and they dislike false hope or information (Harvey, 2006). From the interview, it has been found that unlike Buddhists, Christians does not possess any sort of nutritional limitation and unlike Sikhs, they does not consider the aforementioned five K’s However, it is vital for the physicians to discuss with the patients about the level of health care that they wish to receive. These are the important aspects to people of Christian, Buddhist and Sikh which should be considered by health care providers who possess different religious beliefs (Alberta Health Services, 2009). Conclusion The spiritual assessment provided me significant understanding of different religious beliefs in health care. From the responses of each patient, it is clear that prayer plays a vital part in their healing process. All the three religions have been observed to use the practice of prayer in order to heal quickly. I have also found that every religion has certain religious preferences that must be considered by the physicians or nurses while providing health care services. Thus, from the interview I have learned that healthcare providers must identify and respect the different beliefs of patients. It helps to create positive environment for healing. The interview reveals the fact that allowing patients to practice their faithful activities such as meditation or praying and allowing people to visit the patients can result in significant health improvement. Thus, the health care providers must ensure that they provide every kind of requisite support for healing of patients. In this aspect, it is wrong to overrule the religious beliefs of patients. References Anandarajah, G., & Hight, E. (2001). Spirituality and medical practice: using the HOPE questions as a practical tool for spiritual assessment. American Family Physician 63(1), pp. 81-88. Alberta Health Services. (2009). Health care and religious beliefs. Retrieved from http://www.albertahealthservices.ca/ps-1026227-health-care-religious-beliefs.pdf Delaney, C. (2012). The spirituality scale development and psychometric testing of a holistic instrument to assess the human spiritual dimension. Journal of Holistic Nursing 23(2), pp. 145-167. Elder, H. A. (2000). A biblical perspective on disease, health, and healing. Retrieved from http://fae.adventist.org/essays/26Bcc_267-303.htm Hawter, V. P. (1995). Healing: a Tibetan Buddhist perspective. Retrieved from http://www.buddhanet.net/tib_heal.htm Harvey, C. (2006). A Buddhist perspective on health and spirituality. Scottish Journal of Healthcare Chaplaincy 9(1), pp. 33-35. Hefner, L. (2008). Comparing and discussing two spiritual assessment tool. Retrieved from http://www.lorihefner.com/SpiritualAssessmentTools2.pdf Singh, H. (2009). Caring for a Sikh patient. Retrieved from http://www.merseycare.nhs.uk/Library/What_we_do/Corporate_Services/Spiritual_and_Pastoral_Care/Sikh%20health%20care.pdf Read More