Case Study on Death and Dying
The practice of health care providers at all levels brings you into contact with people from a variety of faiths. This calls for knowledge and understanding of a diversity of faith expressions; for the purpose of this course, the focus will be on the Christian world...
In healthcare, different religious beliefs play a critical role in the kind of care provided to
patients. Duckham and Schreiber state that it is essential for health providers in all levels to
understand the various religious worldviews (2016). Doing this eases the delivery of care
according to specific patient needs. The present case study involves George, a patient diagnosed
with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a degenerative disease in which a patient loses motor
control, including the ability to speak, breathe, eat, and move hence eventually leading to death.
Euthanasia is one of the options in such illnesses, but which is a controversial issue in bioethics,
especially receiving varying Christians and healthcare perspectives.
Suffering and Fallenness
The world's suffering and fallenness are interrelated in a Christian perspective. In the
beginning, God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to care for and nurture the creation.
They ate freely, and without experiencing suffering until they ate the fruit from the tree, God had
warned against, leading to their being expelled from the garden (Shelly & Miller, 2009). That
was the beginning of the fallenness since from then; God set boundaries between Himself and
man. The Christian narrative holds that the fallenness of the world brought with it human
suffering (Shelly & Miller, 2009). God spoke a curse upon Adam and Eve, saying they would
toil to get food, women experience pain when giving birth, and also the ultimate consequence of
death. In this scenario, George may associate his suffering to sin because God pronounced sin as
the leading cause of suffering. Human beings sin any other time hence fall short of the glory of
God. Comparatively, George may relate the pain he is experiencing to the sinful nature of human
beings. Humans do not accept the subjection to the curse of suffering resulting from rejecting
God at the Garden of Eden at the very beginning of life. For that reason, humans corrupt
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller Risper. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $7.49. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
