Church and healthcare: Time for a new debate?

Abstract

Dit is duidelik dat die Christelike godsdiens ʼn kleinerwordende rol in gesondheidsorgbeleid en -praktyk speel. Dit beteken nie dat die kerk nie ʼn rol het om te speel nie. Die vraag is, wat moet die rol wees van die kerk in die verstaan van gesondheidsorgontwikkeling en -praktyk? Die fokus van hierdie artikel is op die rol wat die kerk in die bevordering van eties-gedrewe gesondheidsorg in ʼn tegnologiese samelewing kan speel. Hierdie is duidelik ʼn verwaarloosde tema in kerkbeleid en navorsing oor hierdie onderwerp. In die aanspreek van hierdie onderwerp, word die standpunt onderskryf dat kwesbaarheid nie tot ʼn pasiënt beperk kan word nie, maar dat dit uitgebrei moet word na almal betrokke by gesondheidsorg, naamlik die dokters, versorgers, terapeute, bestuur en gemeenskap. Om die kerk se rol in gesondheidsorg te verstaan, is die dominerende invloede op gesondheidsorg en watter verskuiwings gevolglik plaasgevind het, ondersoek. Uit die analise is dit duidelik dat hierdie die ruimte is waarin die kerk betrokke moet wees. Die kerk moet betrokke wees by die kompleksitiet van gesondheidsorgdienslewering en die wye verskeidenheid van mense daarby betrokke. Die roeping van die kerk is om verandering na al die mense betrokke in gesondheidsorg te bring. Die kerk as ʼn geloofsgebaseerde organisasie kan nie haar rol ontken in die herstel van menselewens deur die transformerende boodskap van verlossing en herskepping nie. Die rol van die kerk in gesondheidsorgbeleid en -praktyk is geskoei op individuele, sistematiese, gemeenskaplike en sosiale betrokkenheid.

It is evident that Christian religion plays a declining role in healthcare policy making and healthcare practice. This does not mean that religion has no role to play. The question is, what role should the church play in understanding medical developments and how should it participate in healthcare? The focus of this article is to look at the role that the church can play in promoting ethically-informed healthcare in a technologydriven society. This appears to be a neglected topic in church policy and research into the field of ethics. In addressing this matter, the articlearticle presents the view that vulnerability is not limited to the patient only but relates to all in healthcare, namely those who cure, care and control, as well as to the community as a whole. The article unpacks the dominant influences on healthcare coupled with a number of shifts. This analysis confirms that these influences and shifts create a space in which the church can function. It is further evident that the church’s role is to deal with the complexity of healthcare and the wide range of people who should be cared for. The calling of the church is to bring revival to vulnerable people in healthcare. The church as a faith-based organisation cannot deny its role to restore the life of people through its transformative message of re-creation and redemption. The role outlined for the church in this article is framed around individual, systemic, communal and societal engagement.