Diversities in Health and Healing Beliefs and Its Implication to Health Care Delivery - Research Paper Example

Holistic care has been the new paradigm of healing hospitals as the world faces the challenge of diversity in each nation. This poses a challenge to institutions to render a loving service rather than mere customer service. It is utilized in understanding that patients, as human beings, are composed of mind, body, and soul and its interconnectedness must be dealt with simultaneously. The final part of this paper examines the health care provider’s attitude and management for patients with different health belief from their own.

Diversities in Health and Healing Beliefs and Its Implication to Health Care Delivery Migration is a common phenomenon that transpires throughout the world in this era of globalization and capitalism. Today, each nation has diverse nationalities residing within their territories for purposes of education, business, work, or leisure. This trend posts a challenge to health care professionals, particularly nurses, in delivery of health care services and understanding their total well being. Through time, the hospital has shifted its paradigm from being a place where illness is treated to a place aimed to render wellness and holistic services.

Practitioners now embrace this holistic approach recognizing the interconnectedness of the body, mind, and soul and treating each aspect in respect of one another rather than the traditional approach of medicine which is focused only with the bodily manifestations (Moodly and West, 2005, p.257). The concept of holistic healing transformed social institutions such as hospitals toward a more just and loving health and healing practices. As the bible says, “The Lord will strengthen him in his bed of illness, you will sustain him in his sick bed (Psalm 41:3),” Christian institutions and practitioners acknowledge the value of psycho-spiritual assistance to both the ill and well patients.

The usual challenged faced by holistic hospitals is marking delineation between the Christian concept of loving service and the capitalist’s value for customer service. While most administrators aim is to increase patient satisfaction, the caregivers and patients seek for a more humanitarian and loving approach when acquiring services from institutions. Health care systems must go beyond the superficial approach of customer service and dig deeper to a more genuine loving service and care (Chapman, 2005).

Holistic approach and loving service are two valuable principles that must be carried out by health caregivers. This encompasses the need for better understanding of the patient’s health beliefs, healing preferences, and religion. Respect is the key point of success in this avenue of care (Chapman, 2005), therefore, diversities among these beliefs and preferences must be fully understood by nurses and health practitioners. Christian, Native American, and Buddhist’s Healing Beliefs The Christians focus on God as the Great Physician who heals all forms of illness and this healing could be attained through prayers.

They recognize Jesus as the Christ, son of God, who healed thousand of sinners and ill people though prayer and faith during his stay on earth as narrated in the New Testament of the Bible. Christians believe in the power of the Holy Spirit as a current that flows and promotes healing of the mind, body, and soul (Plante and Sherman, 2001). The bible dictated that one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit