Religion 101 Genie Hamlett, RN, NHA The following is an extended learning section for Religion 101. You will NOT receive a test on the extended learning. ***** NAB has changed it's regulations for all Distance Learning CEU offerings effective May 1, 2012. Workshops are still: 1 hour attended = 1 CEU. Instead of 15 typed pages, double-spaced in 12 font = 1 CEU, now the requirement is: 12,000 words = 1 CEU. This, in effect, has tripled the sizes of home study or internet courses. Any comments can be directed to: The Chair of the Continuing Education Committee: Mary Ellen Wilkinson at: [email protected] - or- The Executive Director of NAB, Randy Lindner at: [email protected] As we have done for 20+ years, we will try to make earning your hours as enjoyable and as painless as possible. For additional hints, please call: 1-888-359-9600. Genie Hamlett, Owner, NHA, RN Extended Learning We as health care providers are not well versed in a variety of cultures, ethnicity, or the religious beliefs that accompany them. There is no way staff in any facility can know all the important culture-specific features of residents of all backgrounds. However, the staff should and can know the prevalent diseases specific to different ethnic groups, the prevalent religious beliefs, traditions, rituals and attitude, language or social differences. One of the biggest and most important areas that all staff needs to be well versed in is the different patterns of health decision-making that will be encountered by the families and residents. Who controls health care decisions varies enormously from culture to culture, from ethnic background to social skills within a group, and within each religion. There are four components which make up ones heritage. They are culture, ethnicity, religion and, socialization. Heritage relates to the how strictly one sticks to their beliefs and the time honored practices of their traditional cultural system whether it is European, Asian, African, or Hispanic. The values a resident holds dear can be both traditional, which most 80, 90 and 100 year olds in health care facilities honor or can also be more modern. Their grandchildren may observe some of the traditional cultural beliefs and also mix these beliefs with a modern system. These mixtures may consist of four components: culture, ethnicity, religion, and socialization. We will elaborate on these further on in this section but let's look at some important things to remember regardless of someone's heritage. Advice for All: 1. Do not assume that residents or families will view the world the same way that you do. 2. They look at the world though different lenses and their experiences color their interpretation of what they see. 3. Barriers may include language, medical terminology, ability to read and write, beliefs that positively or negatively influence compliance with health care, different concepts of time, quantity, quality, descriptive words. 4. Remember the resident has spiritual needs, physical needs, mental and emotional needs. 5. See resident as part of a family unit. See the resident as an individual. These two worlds may conflict. 6. Do not assume that you know best. Their differences may mean that what you hold as best is only your viewpoint and their viewpoint is just as valid as yours. 7. Foster and make sure the resident knows he/she is respected for who they are. 8. If family structure and the culture the resident is from, dictates that family is 2 included in decision making, make sure the family knows he/she is respected. The extended learning is divided into the following topics: Native American Spirituality and Health An introduction to Native American history and religion and two reports on tobacco use and mental health. Culture and Religion An introduction to cultural differences and their influence on health, with snake handling as a detailed example. Religious Traditions An introduction to spiritual traditions, with bottle trees as a detailed example. Spirituality and End of Life Care An introduction to spiritual care for the terminally ill, with an extensive study on spirituality and cancer care. Federal Regulations Federal regulations which apply to meeting a resident’s individual needs. 3 Native American Spirituality and Health History of Native Americans The American continents have been home to Indian people for a thousand generations. The Indian people developed their own forms of art, as well as political and social structures. They established mathematics, handicrafts, religious belief systems, styles of writing, and methods of agriculture. The Native Americans originated when the first human footprint appeared on the northern continent. These people, who are often referred to as Paleo-Indians, are a group of people with very little known about them. Nobody knows what type of clothes these first Americans wore, how they interacted, what language they spoke, and why they chose to leave their ancient homelands and come to America (Thomas, Miller, White, Nabokov, and Deloria 25-35). While little is known about the Native Americans, it is believed that they were not a primitive group of people with ragged appearances. It is thought that the Native Americans appeared much the way that American Indians look today. With them, the Indians brought many basic survival skills including the knowledge of making fires, effective means of feeding and establishing shelter, and ways to clothe themselves. After they immigrated to America, the Indians lived in small groups with their relatives. In these groups, they were able to enjoy social interactions with one another and share in 4 their supernatural beliefs. While some of their living situations were unstable and the environment was not conducive to their needs, they were able to feed their families and guard their lands (Thomas, Miller, White, Nabokov, and Deloria 25-35). While their original language is unknown, the Indians would eventually speak more than two thousand languages, most of which developed in the Americas. This strong diversity in linguistics was caused by the large migrations of Native Americans who drifted to the Americas in waves. As the population of Indians living in America expanded, so did the different varieties of languages (Thomas, Miller, White, Nabokov, and Deloria 25-35). Beginning from the moment that they arrived in the Americas, Native Americans began to domesticate many different types of plants that they used for food. Using solar calendars that they established, the Indians were able to chart their farming cycles, astronomical observations, and celebrations. Throughout their times in America, the Indians began to develop many different traditions that would be passed down through the generations. Through the first thousand generations of America, the Indian people were able to develop their own world (Thomas, Miller, White, Nabokov, and Deloria 25-35). The American Indian life originates back to the beginning of humanity to a time where the entire earth was fused into a single super-continent known as Pangaea with the Pacific Ocean covering half of the globe. More than 200 million years ago, Pangaea split into 5 two separate landmasses. The landmass to the north was Laurasia and the landmass to the south was Gondwanaland. Once Pangaea split into two landmasses, new bodies of water began to surge in between the new masses forming oceans. The oceans further split the fragments of land which developed the areas appear to be the water-locked continents that we have today. The movement of the plates beneath the Earth’s surface gave way to the boundaries of western America. The collision of plates caused mountain ranges such as the Alps, Himalayas, and Rockies. As the continents separated, life continued to emerge on the land (Thomas, Miller, White, Nabokov, and Deloria 25-35). Fossils of the “southern ape,” which emerged on the African plane, have been found in northern Ethiopia. These fossils were named Lucy, and as excavators continued to search, more relatives of Lucy were also discovered. These relatives that had evolved from Lucy exhibited adaptations and were large-brained hominids that were called Homo habilis. It was not until 1.5 million years ago that the first human form appeared as was classified as Homo erectus by paleontologists. The population continued to grow and the continent of Africa was eventually unable to contain the Homo erectus. Eventually, they began to migrate north toward the Middle East before making it to Europe and Asia. The species of Homo erectus was able to remain stable until they encountered the Neanderthals, who were more evolved. The Neanderthals, or Homo sapiens, began to evolve into humans similar to those we know today. It is uncertain as to whether the Neanderthals evolved into human directly in Asia, Europe, and Africa, or if they only evolved in Africa alone. The “Out of Africa” theory suggests that all living humans originated from Eve, the first 6 and sole mother, and living for nearly 200,000 years in South Africa (Thomas, Miller, White, Nabokov, and Deloria 25-35). It was not until 40,000 years ago that Homo sapiens sapiens appeared. These people were considered completely human, or Cro-Magnon. These humans were skilled and were able to develop their own tools using resources from the environment such as stone, antlers, and bones. While originally having very dark skin from Africa, their skin color began to progressively lighten to the color that most Indians are today. They continued to journey eastward until some eventually came in contact with Australia. They were able to reach the continent because the water level of the sea was low enough to allow access by foot. It was in Australia that some of the Native Americans constructed boats that would allow them to navigate across the open water on their first sea voyage (Thomas, Miller, White, Nabokov, and Deloria 25-35).