Ha Project Amish

The Amish
Culture
Madeline Lucas, Deanna Arthurs, Vladislav Neboga,

Jessica Koches, and Joseph Kusior
Overview of the Amish Culture
● System of Beliefs
- Forgiveness & Godliness are essential characteristics of the Amish
belief system.
- Teamwork is detrimental to their “close community” system.
- Separation from the world is a requirement of their communities.
Overview of the Amish Culture (Continued)
● Cultural Barriers
- Language barrier keeps the Amish community from easily associating
with the outside world.
- Generally forms of German or Dutch.
- Closed communities limit the potential for outside communication.
- Limited transportation keeps the communities withdrawn.
Overview of the Amish Culture (Continued)
● Targeted Community
- Manipulative salesmen use scripture to scam the Amish
communities.
- These salesmen usually offer fraud healthcare.
- As Amish communities are taken advantage of by deceitful salesmen,
there is a higher relation to distrust of the outside world to closed
communities.
Health Care Practices
● Amish religion does not restrict any medical attention or care seeking
○ Use of LOCAL doctors
● Typically prefer to self-medicate from family or friends before seeking care.
○ Use of cultural remedies
○ Faith healing, herbal treatments
○ The need to be self-sufficient
● Payment for medical care is solely out of pocket & in cash.
○ Forms of health insurance discouraged
○ Normal faith in God is considered as well as the ability to pay bills before Amish admit
themselves to a medical facility
○ Free Health clinics and the amish?
Health Care Practices (Continued)
● Amish being admitted into an emergency room

○ Provider should assume pain experience and advanced medical condition
● Symptoms and pain management

○ Careful observation of non verbal cues
○ Physical expression of pain may be interpreted as complaining against God's will
Health Care Practices (Continued)
Rejection of Medical Care
- To prevent burden on larger community (Communal Care)

- Life saving measures are deemed inappropriate if too costly
- Often times considered as interference with God's will
Family Roles
● In the Amish, family is considered a fundamental unit of
their community. The parents often feel that raising their
children to be good Christians is their highest calling as a
parent, and although individual families are not perfect,
they feel a strong family plays an essential role in their
journey towards Christ.
Family Roles (The Father)
● In an Amish family the father is the “leader” of the
family, and makes all the major decisions regarding the
farm and household. However, all families are different
and the mother may also play a role in the decision
making process.
● The father is also the primary breadwinner who
provides for the family financially.
Family Roles (The Mother)
● The mother of the family must have excellent managing skills because
she has a lot of responsibilities to keep the family household running
smoothly.
● This includes: Child care, cooking, cleaning, yard work, barn chores,
food preservation, gardening, and is also the seamstress who makes the
families clothes.
● However, she will receive help from the older daughters of the family
and this is when they start to hone their skills so they are prepared
when it is their time to run a household of their own.
Family Roles (Children)
● The Amish typically have 6-8 children and those who

are in a more conservative communities will have 10+
children. Every person in the family is considered a
productive member to the community, including the
children.
● Depending on the age and gender of the child they
have certain duties and responsibilities that are
required from them everyday.
Family Roles (Children)
● Amish boys will help their father in the fields, this is where
they learn how to use farming equipment in preparation
for when they have their own farm.
○ In school they will primarily learn how to manage finances, prepare
the fields, and how to drive a horse and buggy team.
● Amish girls will mainly help their mothers outside of
school with things such as cooking and cleaning.
○ At the same time they will begin to learn skills that are vital to keep a
Amish household running, such as being a good wife and mother.
Family Roles (Grandparents)
● In Amish communities the elders are highly respected,
their wisdom is a major asset to the family and they are
often sought after for advice with difficult decisions.
● Even though the grandparents are retired they still help
with chores and may tend roadside stands to sell food or
crafts.
Pregnancy and Childbearing Practices
● The Amish are exempted from social security and reject

health insurance coverage.
● Amish women's perinatal health care utilization must be seen
within the context of barriers of transportation, cost, and
child care needs.
● The Amish do not automatically reject medical technology,
but select those aspects that are congruent with and that will
support and maintain their way of life.
Fertility Practices
● Birth control and abortion are forbidden by religious
doctrine, even when pregancy is life threatening
● Pregnancy is viewed as a gift from God
● Amish officially oppose artificial methods of birth
control, basing their beliefs on Biblical principles and
the injunction to “be fruitful and multiply”
● No amount of education will persuade Amish women
to practice contraception. To continue to advocate
family planning in the Amish community is to risk
alienating couples from the health care system
Views and Beliefs Towards Pregnancy
● Often veto preventative practices such as immunization and prenatal care

● The Amish church has no rule against immunization, but only 16-26% of Amish
children have received immunizations against the common childhood diseases
● Reinforcing the rejection of preventive medicine is the low educational status
of the Amish people; higher education is prohibited. This further implies that
health instructions must be given in simple, clear language
Birthing and Postpartum
● Any type of pain medications are not used

during labor
● Medical technology is not typically used
during the labor process
● The labor process is simple
● Postpartum care is traditional including
home visits, etc.
Spirituality
The Amish culture endorses basic Christian beliefs.The Amish seek to follow the teachings
of Jesus Christ in their daily lives by loving their enemies and showing forgiveness. The
Amish also Practices the Biblical teaching of mutual Aid. They urge Each other as
members of the church to help each other in times of difficulty or disaster. Therefore they
decline to participate in Social Security and commercial insurance coverage which they
view as undermining their faith in God And dependence on the church.
Not only does the Bible shape their spirituality but

The Luther's German Bible, The Martyrs mirror, The
Ausbund, And the Dordrecht confession Of Faith are
key sources for their beliefs.
The Luther Bible is Martyrs Mirror is a book
a German language compiled of the stories
Bible translation of those who suffered
from Hebrew and and perished, rather than
ancient Greek by renounce his or her
Martin Luther.
religion.
The Dordrecht Confession of

Faith is a statement of
The Ausbund is one
religious beliefs. Its 18
of the oldest
articles emphasize belief in
Christian song books
salvation through Jesus
in continuous use. It
Christ, baptism, nonviolence,
is mostly used today
shunning those who leave the
by North American
church, feet washing, and
Amish congregations
avoidance of taking oaths.
Top 10 Interesting Facts about the Amish
Culture
1. Amish youth decide if they want to join the church in their late teens and early twenties, and if they choose
to be baptized, they submit themselves to the order of the church for the rest of their lives.
2. On the other hand, Church members who break the commitment to the church and refuse to repent and
confess their sins are excommunicated and "shunned." The shunned are prohibited from engaging in any
social interaction, cut off from all close friends and family.
3. Amish men outlive Amish women, in part because of the high birth rate (average of 7 live births/woman).
4. As a result of a view of illness that defines it in terms of a failure to function in the work role rather than as
a set of symptoms, there is often a delay in seeking medical treatment.
5. The Amish community often speaks a form of Dutch or German as that is often what is taught through
their own schooling systems.
6. Amish men and women taught to separate themselves from the ways of the outside world as they are seen
as “ungodly” in comparison to their own closed community.
Top 10 Interesting Facts about the Amish
Culture
7. Amish children typically attend school through the 8th grade and they have the right to end schooling at
age 14.
8. Researchers believe that the Amish have lower cancer rates because of their natural lifestyle.
9. Amish will refuse critical, life-saving medical care if it will be a burden to the larger community, and
say it interferes with God’s plan for them.
10. Amish Church members will make bank payments and perform farm chores for family members that
are sick, or are hard for income (Compensate for failing family member)
Sources
Adams, S. L. (2016, June 21). Inside The Amish Family. Retrieved November 21, 2020, from
http://www.exploring-amish-country.com/amish-family.html
Amish Religion & Traditions: PA Amish church, religious faith & beliefs. (n.d.). Retrieved November 20, 2020, from
https://www.discoverlancaster.com/amish/religious-traditions/
Donald B. Kraybill, Steven M. Nolt, and David L. Weaver-Zercher, The Amish Way: Patient Faith in a Perilous World (San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010).
Dordrecht Confession of Faith (Mennonite, 1632). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 20 November 2020,
from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Dordrecht_Confession_of_Faith_(Mennonite,_1632)&oldid=146406
L;, C. (n.d.). Pregnancy and childbirth among the Amish. Retrieved November 22, 2020, from
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8426977/
MB;, A. (n.d.). The effects of religious beliefs on the health care practices of the Amish. Retrieved November 22, 2020, from
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3446212/
Rodriguez, D. (n.d.). Beliefs. Retrieved November 22, 2020, from https://groups.etown.edu/amishstudies/religion/beliefs/
Strouse, S. (n.d.). The health of the Amish. Retrieved November 22, 2020, from
https://www.ohiosamishcountry.com/articles/the-health-of-the-amish
Schroeder, A. (2010). The Health Beliefs and Practices of the Amish.
Wesner, E. J. (2015, April 09). Family. Retrieved November 21, 2020, from https://amishamerica.com/family/
Thank you for watching!
Remember to always practice Transcultural nursing! Show your

patients your respect for their culture by asking them about it,
their beliefs, and related health care practices. Keep in mind these
cultural differences as you focus on the individual patient, their
needs, and their preferences.

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The Amish

Madeline Lucas, Deanna Arthurs, Vladislav Neboga,

● Amish being admitted into an emergency room

● Symptoms and pain management

Rejection of Medical Care

- To prevent burden on larger community (Communal Care)

● The Amish typically have 6-8 children and those who

● In Amish communities the elders are highly respected,

their wisdom is a major asset to the family and they are

often sought after for advice with difﬁcult decisions.

● Even though the grandparents are retired they still help

with chores and may tend roadside stands to sell food or

● The Amish are exempted from social security and reject

● Often veto preventative practices such as immunization and prenatal care

● Any type of pain medications are not used

Not only does the Bible shape their spirituality but

The Dordrecht Confession of

Rodriguez, D. (n.d.). Beliefs. Retrieved November 22, 2020, from https://groups.etown.edu/amishstudies/religion/beliefs/

Schroeder, A. (2010). The Health Beliefs and Practices of the Amish.

Remember to always practice Transcultural nursing! Show your

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