Spiritual and Cultural Flashcards
Define spirituality
our relationship with ourselves, others, and the transcendent– it gives our life meaning and purpose
religion is a means of expressing spirituality
Define religion
an organization that has a set of rites, rules, practices, values, and beliefs that prescribe how individuals should live their lives and respond to God
What is spiritual care?
meeting the other person, human to human, providing compassionate presence, and being available for whatever comes up
Define compassionate presence
being with the patient– body, mind and spirit. It is about exhibiting empathy and focused attention
Define culture
patterns of learned behaviours and values shared among members of a group that are transmitted over time
-includes race, ethnicity, language, religious and spiritual beliefs, gender, socio-economic class, etc
What impacts does system culture have on quality of care?
-culture is a strong determinant of people’s views of the very nature and meaning of illness and death, of how end-of-life decisions can or should be controlled, how bad news should be communicated and how decisions should be made
Define micro culture
the culture of palliative patients and family caregivers, and the beliefs and practices about health and illness that they bring to their health care experience
Provide examples of micro culture
-attitudes toward truth telling
-life prolongation technology
-decision-making styles
Define meso culture
cultural values and practices of the health professionals providing palliative/end of life care
Define macro culture
refer to system organization and capacity for cultural competency in health care
-elders, languages, services, traditional medicines and ceremonies
What is the goal of culturally competent care?
to be aware that a variety of beliefs, values, traditions, and practices exist and to honour these when providing care
Define cultural awareness
the knowledge, awareness and acceptance of other cultures and others’ cultural identities
Define culture sensitivity
being aware that cultural differences and similarities between people exist without assigning them a value
How does culture influence ones illness?
-expression and meaning of pain and suffering
-attitude towards disclosure and awareness (of illness)
-beliefs about the cause and meaning of illness
-choice of healer and treatment regimen
attitude toward death and dying
-beliefs about afterlife
-expression of loss and grief
-death rituals
-advance care directives, prolongation of life and euthanasia
-postmortem and organ donation
Define autonomy
recognizes a person’s right or ability to decide for himself or herself according to beliefs, values and a life plan
-exists when people act intentionally with understanding and without controlling influences
