Health care concerns related to a patients spiritual practice

Health care concerns related to a patients spiritual practice

Health care concerns related to a patients spiritual practice

First Discussion post: The Catholic Church’s explicit stance on reproductive rights, dates back to 1588 with the release of Pope Sixtus V’s declaration, Effraenatam, that assigned the punishments of excommunication and homicide sentences for abortions, sterilization, and methods of contraception (Brind’Amour, 2007). With the development of modern contraception in the 20th century, Pope Paul VI continued the church’s stance against contraception, abortion, and sterilization in 1968 with the encyclical Humanae Vitae (Brind’Amour & Garcia, 2007). In this letter, he states the purpose of marital sex is procreation and to interfere with this goes against Natural Law and the teachings of the church (Brind’Amour & Garcia, 2007). Natural law as he explains, “declares the will of God, and it’s faithful observance is necessary for men’s eternal salvation” (1968). It is important to note that Humanae Vitae (1968) did approve the use of natural family planning (relying on the timing of a woman’s cycle) and “therapeutic means” which might affect fertility if needed to cure disease. Finally, Pope Paul VI predicted that contraception and abortion would promote infidelity in marriage, lower moral standards, and allow for men to devalue women (1968). While the Catholic Church’s stance on contraception, abortion, and sterilization have been clearly defined and constant, it is interesting to note that many Catholics do not follow these beliefs, particularly in the United States. The National Survey of Family Growth by the US Department of Health and Human Services, reported that 92% of Catholics surveyed had used condoms and 68% had used the pill (Burge, 2023). Interestingly, condom use among Catholics was similar between those that never attend Mass and those that attend weekly, while OCP use was lower (55%) among those that attended weekly versus those that never attend (75%) (Burge, 2023). Given this disconnect between the Catholic Church and its followers, it is important to discuss access to reproductive services when we consider the fact that many healthcare facilities are owned or run by Catholic organizations. According to Community Catalyst, one in six acute care hospital beds in the US are in a Catholic facility (Solomon et al.). Additionally, of the 10 largest health systems in the US, 4 of them are Catholic and these systems are expanding into settings such as urgent cares, surgery centers, and physician groups (Solomon et al.). The prevalence of the Catholic Church in US healthcare brings up a rather interesting ethical dilemma as their policies can limit access to reproductive services within a community. Should a non-Catholic female patient who enters an urgent care for a refill of her OCP be denied a prescription because of the religious beliefs of the organization that runs the facility? Should this affiliation be clearly communicated to patients before they consent to care? I think these are important questions that must be considered as the lines between religion and medicine continue to blur. References Solomon, T., Uttley, L., HasBrouck, P., & Jung, Y. (n.d.). Bigger and Bigger: The Growth of Catholic Health Systems. Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://www.communitycatalyst.org/resources/public… Brind’Amour, K. (2007, November 11). The Embryo Project Encyclopedia. “Effraenatam” (1588), by Pope Sixtus V | The Embryo Project Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/effraenatam-1588-pope… Brind’Amour, K., & Garcia, B. (2007, November 13). The Embryo Project Encyclopedia. Humanae Vitae (1968), by Pope Paul VI | The Embryo Project Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/humanae-vitae-1968-po… Burge, R. (2023, January 11). Is Catholic teaching on birth control driving people from the pews? Religion News Service. Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://religionnews.com/2023/01/10/is-catholic-te… PAUL VI. (1968, July 24). Humanae Vitae (July 25, 1968): Paul VI. Humanae Vitae (July 25, 1968) | Paul VI. Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://www.vatican.va/content/paulvi/en/encyclic… – Please reply to this post, bring more opinion and details to the discussion. (at least 2 paragraph) 2nd discussion post: Growing up I lived in Fort Wayne Indiana for a few years and there was a very large Amish community that lived close to where I grew up. I remember passing their horse and carriage as we drove down the street, always curious about their lifestyle and beliefs. The Amish community’s religious beliefs are based on a Christian denomination. Faith is the cornerstone of the Amish community, and it governs their entire way of life. They value faith, family, community, and a simple way of living which separates them from worldly things such as electricity, technology, vehicles, and at times healthcare. The Amish community believes that their bodies are the temple of God, and that ultimately God is in control of sickness and death (Garrett-Wright et al., 2016). Often those within the Amish community will turn to naturalistic herbal remedies when faced with a medical problem as opposed to accessing a hospital or clinic. Two areas of healthcare that I found very interesting among the Amish community are their beliefs on prenatal care and births. The Amish community does not believe in birth control as it is perceived as interfering with God’s will and ultimate plan. In some cases there were reports of Amish individuals seeking clinics for prenatal care, however, a majority of women chose to utilize herbal treatments to prepare them for pregnancy such as red raspberry leaves, Dong quia root, and squaw vine root. Women often prefer midwife assisted at home births over birthing clinics or having their child in the hospital (Campanella et al., 1993). Women may visit a doctor purely to confirm that they are pregnant or if serious complications may arise. More and more birthing centers have come about that are more in line with the Amish community’s beliefs and values. However, most of these birthing centers are not equipped to handle a high-risk pregnancy or emergency situation (Deline et al., 2012). In those scenarios, it also creates a barrier in accessing a hospital due to their beliefs in not utilizing vehicles for transport or electricity/technology to call for help. The lack of access to healthcare for prenatal checkups, multivitamins and giving birth can raise concerns for a healthy pregnancy amongst those within the Amish community. In reading about the Amish community, I was very moved by their dedication to their way of life despite lots of the challenges it may bring. I think as healthcare providers it is important to understand your community and those who have specific spiritual and religious beliefs and how that impacts their healthcare and your medical decision-making. I like to think that as clinicians’ part of our role in “healing” is not only one’s physical needs, but their spiritual, emotional, and mental as well. Citations. 1. Garrett-Wright D, Main ME, & Jones MS (2016). Anabaptist Members’ Perceptions and Preferences Related to Healthcare. Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies, 4, 187–200. 2. Campanella K, Korbin J, & Acheson L. (1993). Pregnancy and Childbirth among the Amish. Social Science & Medicine, 36, 333–342. 3. Deline J, Varnes-Epstein L, Dresang L, Gideonsen M, Lynch L, & Frey III J. (2012). Low Primary Cesarean Rate and High VBA Rate with Good Outcomes in an Amish Birthing Center. Annals of Family Medicine, 10, 530–537. (please provide your response to this post as well ) Example of response: (you can look at this post to get some idea how the responses should be ) I really appreciated your focus on prenatal medicine and birth. I think there is a large movement toward “natural” options when it comes to maternal and prenatal care, even outside the Amish community. We will absolutely encounter these patients in our practice, and it is important to understand the things that are important to them. However, I am also curious how open an Amish community would be to something like a mobile health clinic, where medicine could come to them instead of them. I see the Amish community as similar to rural communities in that way. I was able to find a meta-analysis on the Amish Community and healthcare, and it articulated that “Whatever the interest level, barriers exist for Amish to use preventative services, including a lack of knowledge about screenings, considerable hesitation in using these services, service inaccessibility, and personal shyness” (Anderson & Potts, 2020). It would probably be a significant amount of time and energy invested, but I could see this community benefitting from a medical professional consistently coming to them, getting to know them, and providing education and preventative health services. Establishing trust would go a long way. Another component this analysis brought up was that decisions tend to be made as a group, with the heads of immediate family having the final say in any treatments. However, these decision can often be significantly influenced by the community and community leaders. This is vastly different decision making process than what we often find in our individualist Western culture. As a medical provider, I think that knowing that decisions are made the family would change the way I educated, and I would put even more effort to facilitating communication between family members and ensure that everyone understands and is on the same page when it comes to any medical treatments. Overall, this is a unique community, but I think it has many similarities to other cultures, and these will be factors we will absolutely need to consider in our practice. Reference: Anderson, C., & Potts, L. (2020, November). The Amish health culture and culturally sensitive health services: An exhaustive narrative review. Social science & medicine (1982). Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8431948/

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