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Nutritional trends in selected religions as related to health and illnesses
PILEČKOVÁ, Renata
Current society is much diversified as regards its culture of customs and trends encountered also in the eating habits of people. Our health-care facilities provide treatment to a good number of patients of different religions and, consequently, different eating habits. We certainly do not want the patients to be only passive recipients of medical care. That is why the nurses have to put some effort into learning about the individual eating habits of their patients. A nurse informed about food that a patient wishes or does not wish to be given is able to use her own initiative in providing what is needed to satisfy the requirements. In this way the nurse will involve the patients in the treatment and boost their confidence in the health-care staff. The theoretical section investigates primarily nutritional habits of believers of some selected religions, namely Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Roman Catholic Church and Brethren Church. Other parts of the theoretical section analyzed some alternative nutritional trends. Also mentioned was food provision at health-care facilities and the competences of nutrition therapeutists and assistants. The empirical section formulated four objectives: (1) to specify the main features of nutritional trends met in the selected religions; (2) to measure the level of nurses' expertise in the eating habits associated with the selected religions; (3) to find out whether the nurses in providing the care respect the clients' nutritional trends as related to the selected religions; and (4) to investigate the importance and observance of specific nutritional trends in the selected religions as perceived by the clients and the nurses. The methodology relied on a quality-oriented survey performed through controlled interviews with the clients, and a quantity-oriented survey conducted through questionnaires distributed among clients and nurses. The qualitative survey was to answer these questions: What eating habits can be encountered in clients professing the selected religions? Does proper observation of the clients' eating habits make the clients satisfied with the nursing care? The quantitative survey was based on assumptions that (1) nurses ignorant of the nutritional trends will make the clients unhappy about the nursing care, and that (2) proper attention paid to varied eating habits in different cultures will make the job of nursing teams in health-care facilities a more burdensome task. The survey has been conducted in the regions of South Bohemia and Central Bohemia. Judging from the results, the objectives have been met, the hypotheses confirmed, and the research questions objectivized. The work resulted in an Education Sheet to be used by both nurses and the public.
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