Spiritual Diversity - Assignment Example

? Religion Diversity Native American Spirituality is based on several supernatural concerns, which include invisible universal force, an omnipresent, which pertains to death, puberty and birth life cycles. It also includes communal ceremony, medicine people, visions and spirits. Panentheism or animism characterizes the spirituality of Native American with an emphasis on personal spirituality and connectivity with daily activities that occur in spiritual and natural “worlds” (Rainbow of Spirituality, 2013). Native American Spirituality makes the people to have a belief in sacred and that everything that is done originates from the heart of an individual. As such, the spiritual perspective of this religion is that the Supernatural Being has the sovereign power of bringing illness to the community members. For individuals to receive this healing, spiritual components such as belief, meditation and prayer have to be integrated. This acts as the means of these people to communicate with their creator in order to receive this healing. Native American belief bases on the provision of services from the heart of an individual. As such, the faith of the people is vested on the quality and reliability of services, which are offered by care providers of other spiritual beliefs. However, differences in cultural practices make it complex for these people to focus on the healing from the health care providers of other spiritual beliefs. This is because of ethnic barrier and differences in communication pattern with source of healing power (Rainbow of Spirituality, 2013). This makes the Native Americans not to have a strong belief in healing from health care providers of other spiritual beliefs. Native American patients regard health care providers that are able to focus on well-being of the patients as individuals with a call from the Supreme Being. As such, the patients treat these individuals with respect and a lot of love. This creates an opportunity for the health care providers to focus on delivering quality services, which are aimed at ensuring that the patients have the ability to regain their health. The beliefs of the Native American Spirituality are comparable to the Christian philosophy of healing and faith. This is because in both beliefs, they trust in a Supernatural Being who has the sovereign authority to bring illness to the individuals. Further, the philosophy of Christian and Native American is connected in terms of reliability of health care providers from other spiritual beliefs to contribute towards healing of an individual. This includes provision of quality health care and protection, which is aimed at ensuring that the patient gets well. Treatment of patients in both cases is the same such that there is no bias in terms of how health care services are provided to the patients. This implies that both Christian philosophy and Native American Spirituality accept to have health care services provision from people of other spiritual beliefs provided that their services are based on best practices and interests for the patients under consideration. Buddhism is one religion that has a strong emphasis on “mindfulness”. This implies that health care providers have to note that patients may seek for quietness and peace in order to meditate. This is an issue of concern for Buddhism religion (Ehman, 2007). Modesty is another virtue that Buddhism religion emphasizes on. As such, cultural concerns of treatment by opposite sex may impact the process of patient caring and delivery of medication. The perspective of this religion with respect to healing of a patient is that prayers that are characterized of meditation by the patient contribute significantly towards the healing process. These prayers should be done in a silent and secure place where there are no people to interfere with the patient during the meditation process. The critical components of healing for this religion are praying. This involves loud chants that are done in a repeated manner within a quiet environment, which is negotiated in a hospital setting. A bead string may also be used by the patients during the praying process and burning of candles or incense may follow thereafter. The religion also beliefs in supernatural being as the major source of healing rather than the medication provided by the health care providers. Buddhism patients are tricky to be handled by health care providers from other spiritual beliefs. This is because these patients tend to focus more on their cultural practices and beliefs, which may limit the ability of health care providers to deliver their services in an effective manner. However, these patients take everything positively provided it is directed towards their well-being. Buddhism view health care providers that forget their own beliefs in order to exercise their profession in the best practices and beliefs for the patients as people who have forgotten their cultural beliefs (Cea, 2012). As such, these health care providers have to focus on upholding their cultural beliefs instead of moving towards provision of health care services when they cannot communicate and interact with members from their how cultural background effectively. Such individuals may also be regarded as outskirts of the community. This cultural belief of Buddhism on health care providers is different from Christian philosophy of healing and faith, which is focused towards ensuring that all patients obtain the relevant services they need from all people. Nevertheless, both Buddhism and Christianity share a common healing philosophy of trusting on a Supernatural Being, though such a Being is different in their context. Christianity does not focus more in cultural practices when the issues of patients and their healing process are considered. This is different from the Buddhism religion that is strongly based on cultural beliefs and practices with reference to the healing process of the patients. This includes consideration of the people who should be involved in the provision of health care in terms of modesty. Further, Buddhism has a higher level of mindfulness, which makes it complex for the patients from this religion to make decisions. Health care providers may also not be able to make decisions on behalf of the patients without consultation of patient’s family members who may also have to seek advice from other community members. This is different from Christianity where everything happens directly without an involvement of external family members. In conclusion, religious traditions are complex and very long and it is difficult to predict how a family or patient may comprehend and apply them within the context of health care. This is because religious diversity is a complex issue, which an individual may not be able to handle effectively (Goetz, 2012). The issue of religious diversity is present in the health care field. This implies that health care providers often face significant challenges with regard to how to handle individuals from different religious backgrounds. This is so common not forgetting that religious tribalism may develop, which may hinder the ability of a community to coexist in harmony and respect for one another. Since this issue is pertinent in the health care field, there is a need for all the health care providers to focus on embracing strategies, which will contribute towards minimizing the effect of religion diversity in order to deliver quality health care services. The lessons learned from this research need to be used in future when providing care to patients who are from different religions. This will ensure that conflict does not develop and the quality of care and service that is provided is very high. During the provision of health care, one has to ask the family members or the patients about the cultural values or religious beliefs, which may affect the stay of the patient in the hospital. This includes questions on decisions with regard to treatment, staff interaction, and personal needs of the patients. This way, it will become easier for the health care provider to handle the patient effectively. References Cea, J. (2012). The Buddha and Religious Diversity. Routledge. Ehman, C. (2007). Religious Diversity: Practical Points for Health Care Providers. Retrieved from: http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/pastoral/resed/diversity_points.html Goetz, G. (2012). Religious Diversity and the Coming of Christianity in the Prerevolutionary South, Journal of Southern Religion 14. Retrieved from: http://jsr.fsu.edu/issues/vol14/goetz.html. Rainbow of Spirituality. (2013). Native American Religion. Retrieved from: http://a-rainbow-of spirituality.org/nareligion.html Read More