Caring for the Amish in a Modern world Tanya Mitchell Mid-State Technical College Caring for the Amish in a Modern world The Amish believe in living in the simple world. They travel by horse drawn buggies and most don’t use electricity. Cell phones, Internet, and vacuum cleaners are not among the items found in an Amish home. The highest education they receive is the eighth grade and are not wanting to seek a higher level of learning. Over time the Amish have begun to take part in some of the things the modern world has to offer.
To thrive in America the Amish use a three-prong approach in their struggle with modernity: resistance, acceptance, and negotiation. (Kraybill, The Amish, 2013) Family Patterns Extended family is very important to the Amish. Sometimes all the extended family live within a fifteen-mile area. The Amish rely heavily on their extended family and neighbors for helping with taking care of the children and for everyday work that needs to be done. The Amish family is divided at the table by girls on one side boys on the other. The father of the family takes on the leadership role and is the head of the family.
This begins the introduction of the gender roles within the Amish community. The mother’s role is to support her husband and together they take care of the children. Raising their children within the church is one of the most important things that the Amish believe. The young and the old Within the Amish community, infants are wanted and cherished. Children born with disabilities are gifts from God. As welcomed members, infants are rarely left by themselves. They sleep with their parents and nap in areas that have other people in them.
By the time that the children can walk they begin to learn about their roles in the community. It is also at that time that they also begin to be disciplined for not doing what they are told. Once the Amish reach the age of retirement, they move out of their home and live next to one of their children in a small house. This age could be as early as in their fifties. They continue to live from their own income that they earned through selling what they owned. If they elderly can no longer care for themselves, it is most of the time up to the family to care for them.
They are not sent away to long term care facilities most of the time. Communication Unlike most of modern society, the Amish believe in keeping silent when wanting to avoid conflict. They speak in what is referred to as “Pennsylvania Dutch” but also learn in school to speak and write in English. Couples do not show public displays of affection. They are private about their way of life unless they trust you. Even seeing a doctor is sometimes questionable because they are not a part of the Amish way of life.
It is important to remember when treating the Amish in a clinical setting that they only have an eighth-grade education. Space and Time. The Amish are very modest people. Therefore, if they need to have an assessment done, it is important to remember to keep them covered as much as possible. Most of the Amish don’t believe in modern medicine. They only seek out medical care if they have no other choice. The Amish use homoeopathic medicine to heal their bodies and believe that illnesses are the will of God. They also need to trust the people that are treating them.
When wanting to gain their trust, you need to explain what you need to do and maybe even the reason behind it. Small talk and listening to them will also help in gaining the trust you need to get them to open up about problems that they might be having. Nutritional Patterns. The Amish get most of their food from the land or buy raising animals. In some Amish communities, they work with each other to get everything that they need. While one family may grow potatoes the other may grow beans and peas and then exchange the goods. They also process the meat themselves with the help of the children.
Depending on the community they sometimes shop at local stores to get a few items that they might need that they can’t grow on their land. The food that they eat is not processed and is mostly homemade. Health Beliefs and Practices. Health care among the Amish communities is hard to explain. Even within some of the Amish families, the choice of how to manage their health is different. Some Amish believe everything is God’s will and use only natural remedies for healing, others will have invasive surgeries to prevent them from dying. They seek out guidance from extended family and even the church.
Some rely on traditions that have been passed down. Many of the Amish do not have health insurance and even though it was mandated to have it, the Amish were exempt from having to have it. They view the mandated health insurance is aid from the government and is against what they believe. For this reason, infants born early and the elderly hardly receive the medical treatment that they need. Spiritual Practices. The Amish are affiliated with the Christian faith and believe strongly in the word of God. They pray The Lord’s Prayer during many times throughout the day.
They follow the teachings of Jesus in the new testament and is used in all church services. They seek guidance from the bible as well as other teachings when deciding on medical treatment. At the end of church services that are held for many hours on Sunday, there are three things that the Amish participate in. They first end with washing of each other’s feet. That is followed by a “holy kiss” of the persons foot that you washed and a blessing to each other. As the Amish leave the service they give their offering that is collected only then.
Biological Variations You would not know the Amish from the rest of us other than the way that they dress. They suffer from things like the rest of us do but sometimes at a smaller rate. However, because of the way that they live, there are a few things that are different. Due to them living in communities that are closed, certain disorders are higher among the Amish. These disorders are partly due to inbreeding and because the Amish community is so small. Dwarfism is one of these disorders. Other disorders include Angelman Syndrome and some metabolic problems.
Although they might be rare, they do increase the risk of death among the children of the Amish. Parents of these children are not aware of these problems until after they are born because genetic test is not something that the Amish believe in. The most important thing to remember when treating the Amish is that even though they are different then us in some ways, we all need to be treated with respect and sometimes just need to slow down and make time for the people that we are caring for. Understanding of other people’s culture just might make a difference in our lives as well as theirs.
