Case Study Analysis: Christianity, Healthcare, and Patient Autonomy

This assignment analyzes a case study involving a Christian family's healthcare decisions for their child, focusing on ethical dilemmas and patient autonomy. The student explores the physician's role in balancing religious beliefs with medical interventions, addressing the conflict between respecting patient autonomy and ensuring beneficence. The paper examines how Christian beliefs influence perspectives on sickness, health, and medical intervention, emphasizing the importance of spiritual needs assessments in guiding appropriate care. It discusses the principles of beneficence and non-maleficence, offering insights into how Christians should approach medical decisions while remaining faithful to their beliefs. The assignment highlights the importance of integrating faith, ethical principles, and medical expertise in patient care.

Running Head: Christianity
Health workers and Christianity
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors Note

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Introduction
The case revolves around the beliefs and decisions of Mike and Joanne, the parents of
an eight-year-old kid named James. The case study evaluated how the decision-making skills
of Mike are influenced by their religious beliefs.
Q1
Mike and Joanne are Christian and due to their belief in God they did not go for
medical treatment of their son. They hope that God will perform a miracle that will help to
heal their son. However, their physician was aware that James needed a transplant as soon as
possible. The physician should not allow the couple to make decisions for their son James, as
he knew that the parents were deist. The physician should inform the couple that further delay
could harm James's condition and complicate the situation (Hiebert,2016). He should make
his call and made a decision which supported beneficence of the patient. He should convince
the parents that clinical assistance is more essential for the condition rather than keeping faith
in miracles.
Mike should understand the complexity of the condition and decide after evaluating
all the possible outcomes of his decision to do nothing except keeping faith in God's miracle.
The parents of James decided to pray for saving their son's life. They felt that dialysis will
hurt James and the condition will be more complicated. This belief was vague and was biased
by their cultural beliefs. Therefore the physician's responsibility was to convince the couple
for choosing medical assistance over spirituality considering the complexity of the situation.
He should make them realize that keeping the faith will not help James to come out of the
situation. Autonomy means preparations preferences and expressed choices regarding his or
her treatment(Trinh,2019). Here there is a minor underage kid. The 8-year-old James could
not take decisions regarding medical interventions about his condition. However, his parents

3Health Workers and Christianity
are the decision-makers in this case. Despite his age, Mike and his wife should consult with
their son whether he is agreeable with the decisions. The physician could also have asked
James well, regarding his parents’ decision. The physician could at least talk to James's
parents. Patient's autonomy has been deprived in this case as both the parents and the
physician did not emphasized on the well being of the patient.
Q2
There are different dominions of the Christianity and every dominion has different
beliefs regarding sickness. The family of the patient might think that the beliefs of
Christianity are the optimum ones. However, the thoughts and beliefs of a physicians must
be different. The physicians should always prefer the ethics of treatment over any belief and
cultural values. They should try to establish the ethical principles in their treatment
irrespective of beliefs and personal values. The parents of James consider sickness as a test of
God. According to some Christians, diseases and sufferings are the result of God's
temptation(Kapic, 2017). On the contrary, some Christians believe sickness is a punishment
for sins which they have committed throughout their life or before. Some groups of Christian
believe that doctors are the representative of God and help human beings to eliminate
sickness from this earth(Gurung,2019). According to them, treatment should be done to
prevent diseases as the incidence of disease interferes with normal body functions. Mike
should allow his son to undergo dialysis.
Beneficence indicates that the best intervention must be given to the patient to
avoid maleficence in terms of treatment. Mike as a father did not take appropriate decisions
for James (Lyu & Zhang, 2018). Although it was informed to him that James's condition
would get worse if not treated. However, Mike and her wife did not have any intention to
harm their son’s health. They failed to maintain beneficence in the treatment procedure of

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James. He should choose medical intervention as the services by doctors for the patient's
good health that can help James in quick healing. Keeping the famous quote from Algernon
Sydney which states “God helps those who help themselves” in mind Mike should allow his
son to have treatment(Hamilton,2016). Both prayers and medical interventions will help
James to combat the situation more efficiently. Mike should give the doctor the freedom to
treat his son in their best ways of dialysis as it was the only way of proper healing. Thus the
reasons for trusting God and treating James concerning what is truly honouring the principles
of beneficence and non-maleficence in James's care.
Q3
Spiritual needs assessment helps the patient in identify the beliefs, values, practices,
and resources which might put an impact on their health status. However, praying for
miracles and not taking any medical precautions are not the objective of spiritual assessment.
There are different spiritual assessment tools are available such as FICA spiritual history tool,
HOPE questions, and the Open Invite Mnemonic. In this case study, the physician did not opt
for the spiritual assessment for James(Gillilan et al., 2017). The assessment will help to
identify the interventions appropriate for the patient and the family. The physician could help
Mike to realize the urgency of dialysis for James. As the spiritual assessments allow the
parents to identify the resource of their positivity so that the physicians can reinforce the
coping behaviours with parents’ permission.
The physician can help Mike in connecting to the spiritual community. If Mike and
Joanne were involved in the spiritual communities of the religion which encourage medical
treatment as well as keep faith in God; the treatment procedure will be easier for the patients’
family(RASSOULI & SALMANI, 2018). The relationship between the physician and the
James’ family might be improved after undergoing spiritual assessment.

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The spiritual and emotional needs are evaluated by the physician and he could involve them
in therapeutic treatment for the family. The family-focused treatment would reduce the
anxiety and grief and help them to understand the health status of James. As a result, they
would allow the physician to opt for dialysis. With the help of spiritual needs assessment and
family-based approach of therapeutic treatment, Mike and her wife could control their
emotions and rationalized their thoughts about medical interventions.

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References
Gillilan, R., Qawi, S., Weymiller, A. J., & Puchalski, C. (2017). Spiritual distress and
spiritual care in advanced heart failure. Heart failure reviews, 22(5), 581-591.
Gurung, R. A. (2019). Cultural influences on health. Cross
‐Cultural Psychology:
Contemporary Themes and Perspectives, 451-466.
Hamilton, A. (2016). Half Truths: God Helps Those who Help Themselves and Other Things
the Bible Doesn't Say. Abingdon Press
Hiebert, D. (2016). ” Come healing of the reason”: Problematic practices of rationality in
Christian faith. Didaskalia, 26, 49-84.
Kapic, K. M. (2017). Embodied Hope: A Theological Meditation on Pain and Suffering.
InterVarsity Press.
Lyu, C., & Zhang, L. (2018). Who decides in withdrawal of treatment in a critical care
setting? A case study on ethical dilemma. International journal of nursing
sciences, 5(3), 310-314.
RASSOULI, M., & SALMANI, N. (2018). NEED ASSESSMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
OF THE EDUCATIONAL GOALS OF SPIRITUAL CARE DELIVERY BY THE
NURSES.
Trinh, T. Q. (2019). Just Care: A Relational Approach to Autonomy and Decision Making of
Parents Committed to Religious or Indigenous Traditional Practices.