Cultural Diversity in the Health Care Setting

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Cultural Diversity in the Health Care Setting
Cultural diversity in the health care setting is increasing each year. Knowing how to care for patients of different religious and spiritual faiths is essential to providing high-quality, patient-centered care. The author of this paper will research three lesser-known religions; Taoism, Sikhism and Shamanism. Through this paper, she will provide a brief background on each of the three religions and present information regarding spiritual perspectives on healing, critical components of healing and health care considerations associated with each religion.
Taoism
Taoism is an ancient Chinese religion dating back to the sixth century. The basic foundation of Taoism is a life philosophy and method of living in harmony with the Tao, translated to mean “way” or “path” (Strain, 2014). Taoists believe that the Tao is the “Super One” or “Prime Source” (Tai, 2009). It determines all things and all things return to their common origin and fuse into one. Taoists believe that, “The Tao is the ultimate principle of the universe” (Tai, 2009); however, the Tao is not God and they do not worship it.
Spiritual Perspective on Healing
Taoist perspective on spiritual healing begins with purity. Taoism does not make a distinct separation between body and spirit. They regard physical actions to have spiritual effects. Because of this, Taoists believe that the body needs to remain pure in order to achieve spiritual health. A proper balance of yin and yang, complimentary energies, must remain constant in order to maintain a healthy life. When there is an imbalance of these energies, it causes a disturbance within the body. This imbalance causes harmony to become broken and manifests as a physical illness o...

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... (2009). Caring for a sikh patient: A guide to understanding the needs of sikh patients. (pp. 4-19). New Southgate: Sikh Healthcare Chaplaincy Group. Retrieved from http://www.merseycare.nhs.uk/Library/What_we_do/Corporate_Services/Spiritual_and_Pastoral_Care/Sikh health care.pdf
Tai, M. (2009). Natural or unnatural - an application of the taoist thought to bioethics. Tzu Chi Medical Journal, 21(3), 270-274. Retrieved from http://ac.els-cdn.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/S1016319009600549/1-s2.0-S1016319009600549-main.pdf?_tid=dcf23ac4-c01d-11e3-8b01-00000aab0f27&acdnat=1397072204_9d6b709c49dd1c2b2d899dfa47a5a787 Winn, M. (2009). Daoist methods of dissolving the heart-mind. Journal of Daoist Studies, 2, 177-184. Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=832a6a51-b7a1-4413-bd90-5f2d844c9e30@sessionmgr4002&vid=5&hid=4213

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