The Amish constitute a minority group in the United States because they have a unique culture, religion, and lifestyles that differentiate them from the general population. Katz, Ferketich, Paskett, and Bloomfield (2012) describe the culture of the Amish as a unique one because they attend school up to 8th grade, and do not want to associate with the civilized world because they do not use computers, radios, phones, and other electrical appliances. The religious beliefs and cultural practices of the Amish also prohibit them from using conventional medicines. For example, the Amish do not use family planning methods that the health care system recommends to the general population; hence, making their population increase exponentially. Moreover, the Amish are unique because of their genetic composition, which predisposes them to diseases such as metabolic disorders and dwarfism. In this view, the Amish are a minority group that does not access or utilizes healthcare services like the general population owing to their cultural practices, religious beliefs, and socioeconomic status.
The current health status of the Amish is generally low when compared to the general population. Since the Amish do not want to associate with conventional medicine, they have low health literacy levels. According to Katz, Ferketich, Paskett, and Bloomfield (2012), “there is increasing evidence that inadequate health literacy may be a contributing factor to lower health knowledge, poor health status, and improper use of health services resulting in health disparities” (p. 754). The existence of health disparities between the Amish and general population indicates that the Amish do not receive or utilize essential healthcare services that the health care system offers to the population. Since their religious beliefs prohibit them from using conventional medicine, they do not have health insurance. Additionally, the Amish do not believe in birth control, and thus do not use any family planning method.
The barriers that mainly prevent the Amish from accessing and utilizing available healthcare services are their beliefs and literacy levels. The Amish believe that the association with the world makes them become an apostate community that violates human nature according to the will of God. In this view, the Amish do not want to adopt technology in their lives. Regarding health, the Amish believe in alternative-medicine practices, as they do not take health insurance or practice birth control. Furthermore, the literacy level is another barrier that prevents the Amish from seeking medical attention from the health care system. Tell (2010) states that the Amish pursue their education up to eighth-grade level, and thus they have low literacy levels when compared to other populations. In this view, religious beliefs and low literacy levels are barriers that hinder the Amish from seeking medical services from the health care system.
In the case of the Amish community, socioeconomic factors prevent them from accessing healthcare services. Since the Amish have religious beliefs that prohibit them from using conventional medicine, they tend to concentrate on alternative medicines. Moreover, the economic activities of the Amish revolve around the agrarian lifestyle, which makes them survive on subsistence farming. In education, the Amish culture does not support the Amish to pursue their education beyond the eighth grade. Owing to their low level of education, the majority of the Amish are doing small businesses while others are working in manufacturing industries (Gillum, Staffleno, Schwartz, Coke, & Fogg, 2010). Consequently, the Amish professionals are rare in the Amish community. Therefore, Amish culture, beliefs, low socioeconomic status, and low education level prevent the Amish from accessing quality healthcare services from the health care system.
References
Gillum, D., Staffleno, B., Schwartz, K., Coke, L., & Fogg, L. (2010). The Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease and Associated Risk Factors in the Old Order Amish in Northern Indiana: A Preliminary Study. Online Journal of Rural Nursing and Health Care, 10(2), 28-37.
Katz, M., Ferketich, A., Paskett, E., & Bloomfield, C. (2012). Health Literacy among the Amish: Measuring a Complex Concept among a Unique Population. Journal of Community Health, 38(4), 753-758.
Tell, S. (2010). Medical genetic Research on the Amish: From Genetic Tourism to Community health Centers. The Einstein Journal of Biology and Medicine, 1(1), 18-24.