What are your thoughts??
The Christian concept of imago Dei is that “God created human beings to have a likeness to his character, not a likeness to his literal physical appearance” which helps “provide the basis for human dignity and worth” (White, 2020). Imago Dei also implies that “human being are more than simply bodies” (White, 2020). This concept emphasizes the importance of individuals being both physical and spiritual individuals.
This concept is important to health care because it focuses on the need to treat patient’s holistically. They need to be treated physically (of course), spiritually, emotionally and mentally throughout their health care experience. This concept is a constant reminder to treat individually holistically because they are much more than just their physical illness. Imago Dei is relevant in healthcare because there are times that nurses and other health care staff can forget to treat patients holistically. It is easy to get busy with doing what we have to do to keep our patient alive, well and on the road to recovery that we forget that they need more that physical help. I have seen nurses in my experience completely forget about all aspects besides physical care and yes of course they were still well taken care “medically” not all their needs were met during their hospitalization because of failure to provide holistic care. There is many factors that go into caring for individuals completely and giving them the best care and support during their health care experience.
Reference
White, N. (2020). Practicing dignity: An introduction to Christian values and decision making in health care. Retrieved from https://lc.gcumedia.com/phi413v/practicing-dignity-an-introduction-to-christian-values-and-decision-making-in-health-care/v1.1/#/home
