Introduction and Key Terms
Approximately 300,000 individuals in America are members of an Amish community, making the Amish one of fastest growing populations in the nation (Diebel, 2014). Known within the health care sector for their strict adherence to a traditional lifestyle and “reluctance to seek preventative health care and delaying necessary medical treatment” (Brewer and Bonalumi, 1995, p. 494), the Amish are distinct from most other communities in America. Despite aversion to preventative health care, the Amish do seek out professional health services when necessary (Banks and Benchot, 2001), so it is imperative that health service professionals who work in hospitals and clinics near Amish communities have an understanding of Amish culture and health care beliefs. An understanding of Amish culture empowers health service professionals to plan and implement health interventions while working within Amish culture will and overcoming Amish-specific health literacy barriers. Coinciding with Brofenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Model, all people are situated within systems that are larger than the self, and these systems include those that are direct, as well as those that have a subconscious effect (Brofenbrenner, 1994). Thus, within Brofenbrenner’s view, an Amish individual’s ability to navigate the health care system is largely contingent upon the specific cultural context that exists in Amish communities. The degree to which one is able to navigate the health care system is an individual’s “health literacy”, and this term is defined by Singleton and Krause (2010) as the “capacity to obtain, process, and understand [the] basic health information . . . needed to make appropriate health decisions” (p. 4). In both Amish and non-Amish communities, health literacy is entrenched deeply within culture, and culture can be viewed through Garneau and Pepin’s (2015) “constructivist” lens that implies that culture is a continually changing, complex byproduct of social interactions (p. 2). Thesis After introducing the Amish and identifying key terms related to health literacy, Amish culture will be studied to reveal a reliance on folk medicine and an aversion to regular physician appointments due to cost (Brewer and Bonalumi, 2001). …show more content…
Minimal health literacy rates within Amish communities contribute to the current aversion to modern medicine, and this is problematic in that many Amish individuals are never equipped to become health literate and to make their own health care decisions. Inefficient communication and ideological conflicts are the primary barriers that Amish individuals face in regards to health literacy. To demonstrate how to increase health literacy while overcoming these systematic barriers and celebrating community strengths, prenatal care interventions implemented in an Amish community in Geauga County, Ohio will be used as a model. Amish Culture and the American Health Care System The Amish deviate from greater American society in that …show more content…
First settling in America in the early 18th century, the Amish were members of the Anabaptist church that originated in Switzerland, (Banks and Benchot, 2001) and the crux of the Anabaptist church was and is “the desire to reject worldliness and materialism” (Brewer and Bonalumi, 1995, p. 495). This rejection of worldliness permeates Amish life in obvious and subtle ways. On the surface level, limited use of electricity, plain dress, and horse and buggy transportation are all byproducts of the Amish rejection of worldliness (Diebel, 2014), but those external choices have deep ideological and spiritual roots that also influence things such as health
Approximately 300,000 individuals in America are members of an Amish community, making the Amish one of fastest growing populations in the nation (Diebel, 2014). Known within the health care sector for their strict adherence to a traditional lifestyle and “reluctance to seek preventative health care and delaying necessary medical treatment” (Brewer and Bonalumi, 1995, p. 494), the Amish are distinct from most other communities in America. Despite aversion to preventative health care, the Amish do seek out professional health services when necessary (Banks and Benchot, 2001), so it is imperative that health service professionals who work in hospitals and clinics near Amish communities have an understanding of Amish culture and health care beliefs. An understanding of Amish culture empowers health service professionals to plan and implement health interventions while working within Amish culture will and overcoming Amish-specific health literacy barriers. Coinciding with Brofenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Model, all people are situated within systems that are larger than the self, and these systems include those that are direct, as well as those that have a subconscious effect (Brofenbrenner, 1994). Thus, within Brofenbrenner’s view, an Amish individual’s ability to navigate the health care system is largely contingent upon the specific cultural context that exists in Amish communities. The degree to which one is able to navigate the health care system is an individual’s “health literacy”, and this term is defined by Singleton and Krause (2010) as the “capacity to obtain, process, and understand [the] basic health information . . . needed to make appropriate health decisions” (p. 4). In both Amish and non-Amish communities, health literacy is entrenched deeply within culture, and culture can be viewed through Garneau and Pepin’s (2015) “constructivist” lens that implies that culture is a continually changing, complex byproduct of social interactions (p. 2). Thesis After introducing the Amish and identifying key terms related to health literacy, Amish culture will be studied to reveal a reliance on folk medicine and an aversion to regular physician appointments due to cost (Brewer and Bonalumi, 2001). …show more content…
Minimal health literacy rates within Amish communities contribute to the current aversion to modern medicine, and this is problematic in that many Amish individuals are never equipped to become health literate and to make their own health care decisions. Inefficient communication and ideological conflicts are the primary barriers that Amish individuals face in regards to health literacy. To demonstrate how to increase health literacy while overcoming these systematic barriers and celebrating community strengths, prenatal care interventions implemented in an Amish community in Geauga County, Ohio will be used as a model. Amish Culture and the American Health Care System The Amish deviate from greater American society in that …show more content…
First settling in America in the early 18th century, the Amish were members of the Anabaptist church that originated in Switzerland, (Banks and Benchot, 2001) and the crux of the Anabaptist church was and is “the desire to reject worldliness and materialism” (Brewer and Bonalumi, 1995, p. 495). This rejection of worldliness permeates Amish life in obvious and subtle ways. On the surface level, limited use of electricity, plain dress, and horse and buggy transportation are all byproducts of the Amish rejection of worldliness (Diebel, 2014), but those external choices have deep ideological and spiritual roots that also influence things such as health