ATI/Davis
Culturally Competent Care: Religious Practices
Birth Practices
Death Practices
Dietary Restrictions
Health Practices
Buddhism
Believe in reincarnation
Contraception to prevent
conception is acceptable.
Vegetarian diet practiced by
many
Avoidance of alcohol.
A quiet, peaceful environment
allows client to rest and
practice meditation and
prayer.
May refuse care on holy
days.
Catholicism
Contraception, abortion, and
sterilization are prohibited.
Baptism is required
Ensure a calm, peaceful
environment.
Chanting is common
Monk delivers last rites
Organ donation is
encouraged.
Cremation is common
Priest administers last rites.
Organ donation is acceptable.
Suicide may prevent burial in
Catholic cemetery
Some may abstain from
eating meat on Ash
Wednesday and on Fridays
during Lent.
Christian Science
Abortion is prohibited.
A client may choose to give
birth at home.
Unlikely to seek medical help
to prolong life.
Organ donation is
discouraged.
Must abstain from alcohol.
Hinduism
Contraception is acceptable.
Abortion may be prohibited.
Males are not circumcised.
Child is not named until the
tenth day of life.
Believe in reincarnation.
Allowing a natural death is
traditional.
Client may want to lie on floor
while dying.
A thread is placed around the
neck/wrist.
Organ donation is acceptable.
Prefer cremation.
Vegetarian diet is
encouraged. Most abstain
from beef and pork.
Right hand is used for eating
and left hand for toileting and
hygiene.
Several days a year are set
aside for fasting.
Most want to see a priest
when hospitalized.
May request communion or
confession to aid in healing.
May wear cross or medal or
display religious statues.
Medications and blood
products are avoided.
Healing ministers practice
spiritual healing and do not
use medical or psychological
techniques.
Personal hygiene is very
important.
Future lives are influenced by
how one faces illness,
disability, and death.
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ATI/Davis
Islam (Muslim)
Contraception is acceptable.
Abortion is permitted in
certain circumstances.
A prayer is said into the
infant’s ear at birth.
Circumcision is customary.
Judaism
Abortion is permitted.
Ritual circumcision of males
is called a bris, performed on
the eighth day of life.
Orthodox Jewish males are
not allowed in the delivery
room.
The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints
(Mormon)
Seventh-Day Adventist
Contraception is at the
discretion of the man and
woman
Abortion is opposed except in
certain maternal
circumstances.
Infants are not baptized.
Abortion is acceptable in
some circumstances.
Opposed to infant baptism
Client may want to confess
sins prior to death.
A dying client may wish to be
placed facing Mecca (usually
east).
Organ donation and autopsy
is acceptable by some.
Devout Muslims may refuse
both, fearing desecration of
the dead.
Rituals include traditional
bathing with burial within 24
hrs.
Cremation is prohibited.
An autopsy is discouraged.
Organ donation is permitted.
Someone stays with the body
at all times.
Ritual bathing and burial
within 24 hr.
Cremation is prohibited.
Food must be hala (lawful).
Pork, alcohol, and some
shellfish are prohibited.
Ramadan is a period of
fasting during the ninth lunar
month.
Halal (permitted) meats are
from animals that have been
slaughtered during a prayer
ritual.
Haram (prohibited) foods
include pork, gelatin, alcohol,
and animals with fangs.
A client may wish to pray five
times a day, facing Mecca,
and may have a prayer rug.
Privacy during prayer is
important.
Women are very modest and
wear clothes that cover their
entire body.
Women may refuse/avoid
male health care workers.
Food is required to be kosher.
Milk and meat cannot be
served at the same meal or
prepared on the same dishes.
Pork and shellfish prohibited.
Fasting required on Yom
Kippur.
Lactose intolerance is
common among Jews of
European origin.
Saving a life overrides nearly
all religious obligations.
Prayers of well-being of the
sick may be said.
Organ donation is permitted.
An autopsy is permitted.
Life continues beyond death.
Alcohol, coffee, and tea are
prohibited.
Fasting is required once a
month.
An autopsy is acceptable.
Organ donation is acceptable.
Vegetarian diet is
encouraged.
Alcohol, coffee, and tea are
prohibited.
Anything that can be done to
ease the client’s suffering is
encouraged.
During the Sabbath, Orthodox
Jews refrain from using
electrical appliances.
May want to use herbal
remedies in addition to
medical care.
When blessing the sick, a
person is anointed with oil by
two elders.
Healing accomplished
through medical intervention
and divine healing.
Prayer and anointing with oil
may be performed.
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