Do you consider religion a learning barrier?

[treestarfae]

I was filling out some medical paperwork today and they asked this question with choices below-

 

Do you have any barriers to learning?

 

Reading

Visual

Financial

Writing

Language

Spoken

Spiritual and/or Religious

Physical

Cultural

[Snow]

I've never seen that. Perhaps in certain cultures, girls are not allowed to learn the same things as boys, according to their religion, and therefore the religion would be a barrier for the girls??

[Arboreal TJ]

Yes! Reading is prohibited in my religion!

[Snow]

Yes! Reading is prohibited in my religion!

 

 

Reading is prohibited for everyone or just certain people? Would you mind sharing more about what religion you are and what is the mentality behind the rule? How is it enforced? Sincerely curious.

[Arboreal TJ]

That was sarcasm. If I can't read I can't answer the question ;)

[Snow]

Oh.woops.

[Harriet Vane]

I'm pretty amazed religion is on the list. No, I don't consider it a barrier to learning. Quite the contrary.

[I.Dup.]

I think it can be. I think of how I was when I was more fundamentalist in my leanings. I was pretty ignorant and shut a lot of things out.

[Arcadia]

It is possible. I have a classmate who is a buddhist who was conflicted over doing a guinea pig dissection in middle school. She went on to become a doctor.

[Farrar]

Some people are specifically forbidden from learning about certain things - like, say, evolution or sex education - due to religious beliefs. Also, some religious beliefs do overtly discourage learning critical thinking or logic. But it's odd phrasing. I mean... on medical paperwork? It's just confusing. I feel like the vast majority of people who limit learning about certain things don't see themselves as limiting learning, they see themselves as protecting their kids. So I don't think they would check that box.

[Bang!Zoom!]

It's meant to address YOUR learning style as a patient so they can best gear patient education in the proper manner. Of course there are very reasonable religious barriers.

 

They are trying to accommodate and customize in the most comforting manner possible.

[mommymilkies]

Lol I actually have seen this (or what i seem to think they are saying). I know of many groups who refuse to let their kids learn about certain subjects. Think of evolution, religion is in the way of studying evolution for many people, so that might need to be something they know as to subjects to be sensitively avoided or brushed up.

[MamaBearTeacher]

It's meant to address YOUR learning style as a patient so they can best gear patient education in the proper manner. Of course there are very reasonable religious barriers.

 

They are trying to accommodate and customize in the most comforting manner possible.

 

 

I found the question in the original post very strange. I thought maybe whoever formulated it was being overly comprehensive. The post above made me think that perhaps some religious groups (don't know which ones) might have observances which conflict with discussing certain topics which may come up in medical situations. Possibly?

[TranquilMind]

I was filling out some medical paperwork today and they asked this question with choices below-

 

Do you have any barriers to learning?

 

Reading

Visual

Financial

Writing

Language

Spoken

Spiritual and/or Religious

Physical

Cultural

 

 

Um, no?

 

But more importantly, I don't see any reason for this sort of question on a medical exam form. They are becoming more and more intrusive.

[TranquilMind]

Lol I actually have seen this (or what i seem to think they are saying). I know of many groups who refuse to let their kids learn about certain subjects. Think of evolution, religion is in the way of studying evolution for many people, so that might need to be something they know as to subjects to be sensitively avoided or brushed up.

 

 

I don't know any serious educator who does this, except perhaps at the youngest levels.

 

For example, you can count me squarely in the camp of those who do not think the school has any business indoctrinating young children with sexual values, and believe me, they ARE indoctrinating with values.

 

That job belongs to the family.

[mommymilkies]

I don't know any serious educator who does this, except perhaps at the youngest levels.

 

For example, you can count me squarely in the camp of those who do not think the school has any business indoctrinating young children with sexual values, and believe me, they ARE indoctrinating with values.

 

That job belongs to the family.

 

 

I don't know why you're getting angry at me? And apparently we went to different schools. ;)

[prairiewindmomma]

I think the question is poorly worded. I've seen the situation come up in real life, recently.... In NICU there were mothers who could not/preferred not to be left alone in the room with a male neonatologist. Likewise, I saw one couple where even though the wife was present all conversation was directed to the husband. If the wife had something to say from what she "overheard", she would say it to her husband who would then converse with the doctor. There wasn't a language barrier....when the female neonatologist was doing rounds, wife was alone nursing the baby and was completely fluent in English.

 

I'm not sure if what I was seeing was a cultural barrier or a religious one, but I'm guessing that with at least one of the couples I saw it was both.

 

(I got to know one of the couples when my dh joined me at NICU after work one night. With my dh able to talk to her dh, I could chat with the mother when we bumped into each other in the parents' lounge.)

[Lang Syne Boardie]

It isn't an intrusive question, and it isn't a political statement asserting that religion is a barrier to education. This is an entirely voluntary survey that gives the patient the chance to consider and delineate her own personal obstacles in understanding instructions or information in a medical setting!

 

When I was working in health care, I was very thankful for such surveys because they opened doors for the benefit of the patient. If her religion got in the way of anything, it was her choice whether or not to say so. Nobody asked her personally about any of this! It's the same survey for everyone. But if she needed help explaining what her problem was, this survey was there, being shared between the patient and her HCP as a communication tool.

 

I'm the keeper of the aluminatorium here at my house, always up for a conspiracy theory or a chance to complain about encroaching government. But this ain't that.

[Bang!Zoom!]

Look, the reason they do this is because if you are sick and need help, and educated about your condition-they want to know the best way to address it.

 

Do you need large print for your med bottles, instructions?

Do you have a hearing issue and need things written?

What is your first choice of language, this sort of thing...

 

When it comes to religion in particular, it is meant to help gear the assistance you receive in education and preparing for your health care in a manner that is respectful and responsive to your particular needs.

 

The berth of religious issues (days of the week, who may be present, who is to be called, food, travel, other sensitivities) is absolutely endless in our society.

 

There's some text preceding these questions we aren't seeing that would better clarify the context of WHY they are being asked. I find it quite progressive and good.

 

It's the polite rephrasing and combining of handicap, preferences, and personal issues all rolled into one.

[Murphy101]

I don't know. I know many a medical professional probably thinks being practicing catholic henders my gynnocological health care. The truely professional ones keep that to themselves though. ;)

 

The thing about the question though is its rather silly.

 

No practicing catholic is going to view it as hindering, but I'm sure many medical professionals do, so the question doesn't help either party.

 

Most medical issues that are also religious issues are well known by the religious person who is practicing them.

 

So it would be better, to my mind, if the question was reworded to:

 

What is, if any, religion you practice?

And

Are there any known medical issues that your religion prohibits?

[Roadrunner]

The inclusion of "cultural" along with "religious" for me means they were going for moral aspect of things? I won't kill a frog (eastern religions) or evolution. Otherwise I wonder which cultures they consider particularly stupid.

[foxbridgeacademy]

My take on that question would be: does your religion forbid you from learning about certain topics. Science, History, sexual Education, ect... The religion I grew up in was very fundamental. They didn't want their parishioners reading/learning about anything that didn't fall in line with the churches teachings. There was a lot out there that didn't fit our beliefs, of course as a sponge (for knowledge) I soaked it up.

[Bang!Zoom!]

It's just cover sheets for referral purposes. You need to keep in mind this is a medical request and about how to educate a patient in the most acceptable learning style which fits them.

 

I don't get where all this other stuff is coming from.

[NASDAQ]

I think it would be an exceptional person who identified religious beliefs that he currently held as being a barrier to learning. Perhaps retrospectively. It's pretty negative language.

 

We are asked (and do state) our religion on medical forms, but for other reasons -- dietary preferences, chaplaincy, modesty, that kind of thing.

 

It's a weird question. I'd go for "do you have any barriers to learning? If yes, describe:"

[VeritasMama]

With some of the categories, if someone does in fact fall into that category they aren't likely to think they do. So what's the point?

 

I find they never read these forms anyway. I hate offices that make you fill out 100,000 forms and then just shove them in a folder somewhere. What is the point?!

 

 

This.

[jms]

It's just cover sheets for referral purposes. You need to keep in mind this is a medical request and about how to educate a patient in the most acceptable learning style which fits them.

 

I don't get where all this other stuff is coming from.

 

 

What if you added "racial" and "gender" to the list in the OP? To some it is just as offensive to consider their religion a possible "barrier to learning" as it would be when it comes to race or gender because it's a basic part of identity for them.

[TranquilMind]

 

I don't know why you're getting angry at me? And apparently we went to different schools. ;)

 

No one is getting "angry" at you. You simply authoritatively stated a premise that I refuted, as I recall. Nothing personal. Or maybe you quoted someone else saying it. Going back to look.

[TranquilMind]

I don't know. I know many a medical professional probably thinks being practicing catholic henders my gynnocological health care. The truely professional ones keep that to themselves though. ;)

 

The thing about the question though is its rather silly.

 

No practicing catholic is going to view it as hindering, but I'm sure many medical professionals do, so the question doesn't help either party.

 

Most medical issues that are also religious issues are well known by the religious person who is practicing them.

 

So it would be better, to my mind, if the question was reworded to:

 

What is, if any, religion you practice?

And

Are there any known medical issues that your religion prohibits?

 

 

Yes, that would definitely be a better wording of the question.

[Bang!Zoom!]

Ya'll are nuts. :hurray:

[Hunter]

I think it's poorly worded, but something like it is necessary.

 

I'm living in a major city. We have issues here. I think that even if a patient did not write anything on the form, doctors will scribble in notes in that area, for themselves and their colleagues.

[kiwik]

I have met people whose religion forbid use of computers so there wouldn't be much point referring them to websites. I guess these days some people may consider it a barrier. It is an odd question but I tend to just put n/a to any questions I am not disposed to answer.

[duckens]

I'd lay serious money that the hospital had a complaint letter, or a series of complaint letters, about insensitivity to religion issues, and this is a portion of how they choose to handle it.

 

(Non-religious examples):

Example 1:

When our first child was (C-section) born, the nurses were not bringing me appropriate or adequate meds on schedule, but were condemning me for not walking independently to the bathroom (with no meds in me). I wrote a letter of complaint to the hospital when they asked for feedback after dd had been born.

 

When our second child was born, guess who was put in charge of my meds? That's right: ME. They gave me a sheet of paper to record when and what I took. The meds were locked in my room (in case of other small children/siblings visiting the room) with an easy code on the lockbox. If I didn't get meds when I needed them, it was my fault. Within 4 years, the hospital had addressed the problem.

 

Example 2:

Friend went into labor a couple of weeks early. She received poor advice from the on-call nurse, and was told to not leave for the hospital until the contractions were 1 minute apart :eek: (as opposed to 5 minutes apart as we had been educated in prenatal classes). Then they were delayed by two trains blocking the road as they came across town. When she arrived at the hospital, the check-in nurse was asking her paperwork questions about dietary preferences and such. :glare: It's really not what she needed at that exact moment. Of course, she complained in the after-birth evaluation that she gave to the hospital.

 

Again, by the time our second child was born, paperwork about dietary preferences was included in the "pre-registration" packet that all pregnant parents are asked to fill out and turn in weeks before delivery date.

 

I believe that most people (especially those nurses!!!) are genuinely caring people who want to be there for you in your hour of need. This gives patients and opportunity to voluntarily share and address religious concerns with their caregivers so the best of care can be given.

[dirty ethel rackham]

I can see asking about religion and how it may impact care, but as a "barrier to learning"? I find that offensive. I like Martha's take.

[Farrar]

As I said before, I can see ways in which it could be true. But I can also see why people find the wording offensive or just confusing. It just needs its own category. If the purpose is really what people are stating it is, it should list everything on that list except for religion and culture. Then it should ask a separate question that says something like, "Are there religious/spiritual or cultural issues that medical providers should be aware of to provide better care?" That probably isn't the greatest phrasing but something along those lines.