Facilitator:
Abstract
In the medical field, health care providers interact with people from different faiths, meaning that caregivers should adapt to the beliefs of people. The Buddhists, Shinto, and the Baha’i present three examples of the faiths in which a person must adapt well to work effectively and efficiently. This paper looks into the unique features of the three faiths with the view of opening the health care providers to the opportunities existent in the three faiths’ arena. The paper also explores the unique similarities and differences of the three faiths and Christianity in relation to health care provision.
Health care provision provides a chance for practitioners to interact with people from different places, beliefs, and faiths. In the course of their interaction, the practitioners meet many people, who present them a chance to know the cultures and beliefs that pertain their treatment and working in the jurisdiction of such faith. However, the people provide a chance for practitioners to learn how to cope with the weaknesses of the religions, which may contrast the religions professed by the health care providers in their areas. The perspective of healing and treatment may differ from the professional health care careers, a factor which may influence the application of treatment to the people. Examples of faiths that may contrast the medicine practice include Baha’i, Buddhism, and Shintoism. This paper analyses the three faiths, with the view of determining the health care professed and how best a health care provider can work in those faiths.
Buddhists perspective of healing and the Christian perspective of healing differ in one way (Whitman, 2006). The Buddhists believe that a person should live as long as they can support their own lives. The religion does not believe that this should happen under all negative and positive circumstances. For example, life support machines are not believed to be helpful if the person’s mind is no longer alert. The faith believes that this practice forces the human mind to live when in essence the mind wants the person to rest. Christian faith presents the direct opposite of religion as in Christianity; one should do anything possible to preserve life. Whether the life lies at the lowest or highest probability, preservation stands at the helm of it all.
Shintoism resembles Christianity in the way they view life and health care. Healing rules, the faith, and all things happen in a bid to preserve life. To date, the Shinto value long life, health, and material things that make a long, happy, and healthy life possible. Furthermore, they have no qualms about praying to their native god named kami in hopes that they will get those benefits. On the opposite side of the coin, this vocalism in the faith makes the Shinto reject, avoid, or seek to purify those things, which are associated with decay and death. The Baha’i faith believes in healing, both spiritual and physical. They believe in the provision of scientific medical care to people in times when they require them as long as they do not contradict the Baha’i faith and their beliefs. Both kinds of treatment, spiritual and physical should apply if they are not contradictory. In this context, people in the faith should also accept physical remedies. These have come from the favour of God, Who has revealed and made manifest medical science so that His servants may gain and profit from such kind of treatment and the spiritual healing.
Among the three faiths, healing comprises of different components. Among the Buddhists, healing definition comes from the ability of the body to sustain life with little support (Whitman, 2006). When the body has the ability to support the life of the person, treatment becomes inevitable, and any mess that allows the patient to die brings blame to the practitioner. Buddhists associate healing with a number of things. First, healing revolves around prayer, where the patients get spiritual support as they go through the treatment process. Meditation and physical treatment also apply among the Buddhists. Among the Shinto, prayer, meditation, offering, supplication, and the scientific treatment take the shape of the health care. The people face many challenges when approaching the priests for help on medical issues, but they finally get the necessary help. The religion resembles Christianity in treatment because the Christians also profess the same treatment procedures as the Shinto. However, the Shinto does not directly communicate to the spiritual world. They have always found it necessary to employ a ritual specialist, or a medium, who perhaps acting as a healer, to bridge the gap existent between the world of humans and the world of spirits. With their lives at stake, the ancient Shinto believers would not attempt something as ignorant and foolish as to assume the knowledge and ability of the expert and try to solve their spiritual and/ or physical illnesses on their own.
The Baha’i faith also resolves to prayer but mostly seek the scientific treatment when faced with a scientific problem that needs treatment. The treatment procedures among the Baha’i resembles the Shinto faith because both the faiths believe in material healing and spiritual healing. Some religions may restrict their members to seek only one kind of treatment. Among the three faiths, Baha’i faith and Shintoism resemble the foundations of the Christian faith regarding treatment and health care issues. However, Buddhism differs with Christianity because of the belief that treatment only becomes necessary when the mind can still sustain the body.
When taken care of any people professing different faiths, the Buddhists insist on the fact that the health care officers must accept their religious beliefs. The use of elements that support life when patients cannot support life on their own does not ogre well with the people, as they believe this amounts to forcing life (Pinner, 2003). The Shinto allows people to influence their treatment procedures although they do not allow people to compromise their faith. For a health care specialist, as much as people may allow one to run the treatment procedures, they can hardly allow him or her run it under models that compromise their faith. For example, a Buddhist health care specialist must use life support machine and any other elements to save the life of a person even though the Buddhists do not proclaim the same.
Unlike the Shinto, the Baha’i run the program and set the rules for treatment when dealing with people from other faiths. The health care specialist gets the information concerning what to do and not to do as per the faiths guidelines, and they must adhere to the treatment procedures. Life saving does not get compromised from any other practices among the Baha’i faith meaning, whether the professional believes in Baha’i or not, they must work to save the lives of the people they treat. All the methods applicable in modern science for life saving also apply among the Baha’i faith as the people allow for even the most sophisticated elements as long as the practitioner does not tamper with their faith. Religious specialists also take part in treatment in areas where they possess ample knowledge and skills. The beliefs between the Shinto and the Baha’i resemble those among the Christians. However, the Buddhist beliefs differ from Christianity on the aspect of treatment because Christians treat the patient whether they have survival chances or not (Marcotty, 2008).
The research opened me up to new practices in the field of nursing. First, I learnt that the beliefs I had about the Shinto and the Baha’i do not necessarily represent the truth on the ground. Many people think that the Shinto and the Baha’i do not support the practice of health care professionals who do not believe in their faith. However, the research nullified my belief in such fallacies. The research also opened me up to the practices regarding health care and other spiritual atrocities especially among the Buddhists. I always believed that the Buddhists allow people to seek treatment from a variety of channels and openings as long as the treatment restores the lives of the people. The belief was always wrong.
I learnt that various beliefs affect medical care procedure; thus, as a health care provider, I must embrace inclusiveness for effective delivery of my services. Religious beliefs of people affect their health care practices adversely, which determines the lives of the people in the faiths. However, in the three faiths, dietary applications to health do not limit the people who profess the faith. In order to dwell well in the faiths, the people must adopt special dietary provisions that protect them from illnesses so that they do not expose themselves to illness. Lack of proper preventive measures in some of the faiths can lead people to illnesses and death due to the complicated beliefs about health care.
References
Marcotty, J. (2008, Apr 17). Dalai Lama: Lessons of buddhism as applied to medicine. McClatchy - Tribune Business News. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/465456474?accountid=45049
Pinner, J. W. (2003). TQM practices and organizational culture: Japanese versus american perspectives. (Order No. 3110779, Regent University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 215-215 p. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/305231237?accountid=45049. (prod.academic_MSTAR_305231237).
Whitman, M. V. (2006). An examination of cultural and linguistic competence in health care. (Order No. 3245509, Auburn University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 320-320 p. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/305360446?accountid=45049. (prod.academic_MSTAR_305360446).
