The Medical Manual for Religio-Cultural Competence: Caring for Religiously Diverse Populations

Every religions has dozens of tenets that can influence how patients make health care decisions. Did you know that Buddhists may resist palliative care drugs at the end of life? Observant Jews experience multiple kinds of conflict with hospital care on the Sabbath? There are health exceptions to a Muslim's daily prayer requirements? Sikhs are barred from eating kosher and halal foods? Do you know why? The Medical Manual examines the health-related beliefs and practices of ten of the world's major religious traditions, from Buddhism to Islam to Afro-Caribbean religions. To make sure providers can have comfortable conversations about religion and use the information they get, it offers communications guidelines, checklists to help providers manage the information and tools to help them organize and integrate it into their patients' treatment plans. Part workbook, part textbook, The Medical Manual walks providers through every step of the unfamiliar territory of religion and health care, helping health care practitioners of all types provide better quality patient-centered care and build strong provider-patient relationships.