Religious Cultural Sensitivity in Israel: A Case Study of an Orthodox Jewish Family

Abstract

The challenges of hospice care can scarcely be overstated, considering that the complexity of Special Edition 1 managing the physical, psychosocial and spiritual issues of the patient and of the family may Article Ref. #: 1000PMHCOJSE1107 seem daunting. The task becomes even greater when accommodating differences in culture and religious beliefs. This study focuses on a case of bridging cultural gaps by a 26-year-old medi- Article History cal student and his modern Orthodox Jewish family in Israel. The patient was diagnosed with Received: May 23rd, 2017 aggressive squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue two months before. The authors joined the Accepted: May 16th, 2017 family as part of his palliative care team in January and accompanied them for 7 months until Published: May 18th, 2017 his death in July. The case was not only medically and psychosocially complex, but religion was an added factor which needed to be carefully managed. The family identified as religiously observant Jews, while the hospice team, although Jewish and familiar with the traditions, iden- Citation tified themselves as secular. The palliative care team worked with the patient and family to pro- Silbermann M, Ron S, Katz GJ. Re- ligious cultural sensitivity in Israel: vide a course of treatment that was acceptable for both parties. The team worked to alleviate the A case study of an Orthodox Jewish patient’s suffering and ultimately enabled the patient to have the death of his choice, at home family. Palliat Med Hosp Care Open J. with his family. Identifying as a member of an ethnic group, or as practicing a religion, does not 2017; SE(1): S28-S31. doi: 10.17140/ necessarily entail maintaining beliefs that may be associated with ethnicity or religion.1 As a PMHCOJ-SE-1-107 team, we needed to be sensitive to cultural nuances and family dynamics so that the family felt comfortable to share their struggles of faith with us during their son’s/brother’s illness.