EDITOR’S NOTE:
No still or video photography will be allowed at this event because of the beliefs of the Mennonite and Amish participants. Audio recording will be allowed, however.
WHAT: Anabaptist/Mennonite and Amish Cultures: What Health Care Providers Need to Know
The University of Louisville Health Science Center’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion will host this one-hour lunch-and-learn event to educate providers, residents and students in culturally sensitive health care practice for the Anabaptist community, specifically Mennonite and Amish cultures.
Anabaptist communities traditionally avoid modern technologies such as automobiles, telephones, computers and electricity in their homes. However, they do seek medical care when illness or injury interferes with their ability to work or when their children are stricken.
The South Central Kentucky Area Health Education Center located at Western Kentucky University, the WKU School of Nursing and the UofL Family Medicine Residency Program at Glasgow, Ky., have developed over the past 15 years a relationship with an Old Order Mennonite Community in Allen County. Monthly educational programs, health screenings and primary care are provided to the community by providers, residents and students in medicine, nursing and other health professions. The health care needs of the community are met while the residents and students are trained in providing culturally sensitive care.
Friday’s event will provide insight into the singular characteristics of what is and is not accepted by Anabaptist cultures in the health care setting. For example, most modern medical treatments are allowed with the exception of organ transplants, and because the bulk of the cost of health care is borne by the entire community, health care decisions are never made by the individual alone without consultation with the community. These and other distinctions will be discussed at the event.
WHO:
Steven A. House, M.D., University of Louisville Department of Family & Geriatric Medicine
Susan Jones, Ph.D., Western Kentucky University School of Nursing
Eve Main, DNP, Western Kentucky University School of Nursing
Lucy Juett, South Central Kentucky Area Health Education Center’s Mennonite Clinic Project
Neal Miller, minister, Ethridge, Tenn., Amish community
Eric Kraly, member of a Tennessee Amish community and participant with the Mennonite Clinic Project
WHERE: Auditorium of Kornhauser Library, located on South Preston Street between East Chestnut and East Muhammad Ali
WHEN: Noon-1 p.m., Friday, Nov. 20, 2015
Contact: Jill Scoggins, 502-852-7461, jill.scoggins@louisville.edu