Healthcare and spirituality

Healthcare and Spirituality Name Institution Course Date Abstract There are diverse religions in the world all of which have their beliefs about illness and health. Technological advancements and the globalization concept have seen to it that a lot of people have moved to other regions of the world, spreading their beliefs. As such, it is important for physicians to be equipped with knowledge on these beliefs so they can effectively take care of the patients. The essay below looks at three beliefs and how they relate to the healthcare issues. Healthcare and Spirituality As a healthcare professional, it is important for an individual to always be prepared to handle people of diverse cultures and practices. One of the areas in which people have differences is the religious sector. In as much as all the people visit the healthcare facilities in such of medical assistance to cure their conditions, the healthcare professionals need to understand that healing does not entail just the physical body. There are other factors that need to be considered as well, religious affiliations topping the list. Understanding the different religious beliefs and how they relate to healthcare could be an asset which makes the healthcare provider more efficient at delivering holistic care and healing. Three of the religious beliefs are as listed and discussed in the paragraphs below. Hawter 91995) gives an insight into what healing in the Buddhist religion entails. His account has it that the Buddhist concept of the mind is the core factor to consider in healing. The religion holds that the mind is the creator of everything. When the mind is healthy, then the body is healthy. He likens the mind to the sun and sickness to the clouds. The mind is shapeless, colorless, formless and genderless. It is pure and limitless just like the sun in the clear sky. However, sickness is like the clouds which obscure the sun, in that they cover the mind, making it impure. As such, healing in the Buddhist perspective has to do with clearing the mind, and then the rest of the body will be pure. They also believe that the process of curing the mind involves medical attention for the physical condition, and the clearing of the mind through prayers to the God and use of blessed pills and water (Hawter, 1995). When handling such patients, it is important for the physicians to try and counsel them on how to have a clear mind, as this makes the patient tend to respond positively and associate with the caregiver. Also, it can be seen that the Buddhist perspective somehow relates to the Christian perspective. They both believe that sickness is not just physical. As such, there is the need to deal with the physical manifestation of the illness through medical care, and also seek divine intervention in the issue. Shintoism is a religious belief that is common in Japan and parts of China (Kalland, n.d). However, it is worth noting that people in these countries not only have one religion but can ascribe to two or more. Believers in Shantoism are well are well aware of the developments in modern medicine. They understand and appreciate that germs are all over and they cause illnesses. They also appreciate that there are medicines that deal with these conditions, and people should seek medical attention when they fall ill. However, they go further and argue that since germs are everywhere, there must be a reason as to why some people fall ill and others don`t. They have two explanations for this. First of all, Kalland (n.d) observes that these people believe that illness has something to do with the conditio...