How can the Christian concept of the imago Dei inform a holistic perspective of the patient within their family and community?

Initial discussion question posts should be a minimum of 200 words and include at least two references cited using APA format. Responses to peers or faculty should be 100-150 words and include one reference. Refer to “Discussion Question Rubric” and “Participation Rubric,” located in Class Resources, to understand the expectations for initial discussion question posts and participation posts, respectively.

Expert Answer

Christian ideology of imago Dei (when all people were created in the likeness of God) emphasizes the original value and dignity of every human being. This doctrine challenges healthcare professionals to consider patients in their entirety as they offer their physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs in the context of family and community services. Murgia et al. (2022) state that when nurses incorporate spirituality and religious diversity into the nursing process, a practitioner is able to support the more existential needs of patients, leading to more caring and person-centered nursing care.

On the same note, Šip et al. (2023) also note that acknowledging human dignity as a divine image fosters caregivers to treat patients like personalities instead of clinical cases. Combined, these viewpoints emphasize the way that the imago Dei concept offers a theological and ethical paradigm of the dignity-focused, holistic care practice.

The imago Dei approach that can be applied encourages a relationship-oriented view of a patient that goes beyond the individual health of a patient to the family and community. This opinion is supported by Lanarjeira (2023), who claims that the promotion of dignity during chronic illness care should take into consideration the bio-psycho-social-spiritual needs of patients and their families. This is consistent with the results reported by Murgia et al. (2022) that spirituality improves holistic healing and strengthens the nurse-patient relationships.

Similarly, Šip et al. (2023) mention that the identification of the divine image within each individual can make the process of inpatient care a collaborative and dignity-based approach. Finally, imago Dei provides a divine prism with the help of which medical professionals are able to develop empathy, respect human dignity, and facilitate holistic healing at the family and community levels.

References

Laranjeira, C. (2023). Dignity promotion in people with advanced chronic diseases: contributions for a value-based healthcare practice. Frontiers in Public Health, 11, 1156830. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1156830

Murgia, C., Notarnicola, I., Caruso, R., De Maria, M., Rocco, G., & Stievano, A. (2022, August). Spirituality and religious diversity in nursing: A scoping review. In Healthcare (Vol. 10, No. 9, p. 1661). MDPI. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10091661

Šip, M., Kuzyšin, B., Sabolik, M., & Valčo, M. (2023). Human dignity in inpatient care: fragments of religious and social grounds. Religions, 14(6), 757. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14060757