Integrating Religious Practices in Home Health Care: A Case Study of Collaboration between the Health Care System and the Orthodox Jew

Abstract

As young children, our parents told us to eat our vegetables because they were healthy. As adults we try to watch our weight, exercise, quit smoking or never start, and take our vitamins and other medications that are prescribed. Why? For our health! As health care workers, we are telling our clients, do not overexert, stay on your prescribed diet, and do regular breast or testicular self-exams. Why? For their health! It is important for us to not only know what to advise our clients, but how to incorporate this advice into their daily lives so they are compliant with the recommended course of treatment. What happens when they are noncompliant with these directions? We see our home care clients returning to the hospital, complicating their conditions, or just not getting any better. This article focuses on the challenges of the home health nurse in integrating particular beliefs, values, and life ways into the recommended plan of treatment that will affect the compliance of the client.

Keywords

religious practices nursing home health care

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