Ranking the Priority of the Four Principles: Medical Indications, Patient Preferences, Quality of Life, or Contextual Features

Ranking the Priority of the Four Principles: Medical Indications, Patient Preferences, Quality of Life, or Contextual Features

The Christian viewpoint dictates a different placement of priorities in the four principles. The top priority is more likely to be a patient preference, as religion promotes a humanistic approach, where a person’s will is treated with honor. According to Biggar (2015), Christians believe in universal human dignity, which is crucial for modern patient-centered medicine, as its primary concern is patient well-being. This may differ from health status, as a person may be physically healthy and emotionally unwell at the same time. Therefore, the primary concern, according to the Cristian way of thinking, is personal attitude and preference.

Even though it may seem contra-intuitive, second in the ranking are medical indications. Biggar (2017) states that religious people are open to learning and understand that every person can be a medium of God’s Word. Therefore, Christians, like all the other rational individuals, understand the limits of their competencies and take into consideration doctors’ opinions that believe medical indications to be the most objective and accurate source of information.

The matter least valued by Christians and many other confessions is the quality of life, as religious people tend to accept their fate and can deal with discomfort. Thus, one can conclude that the principle that is the third in ranking is contextual features. In short, the most distinctive characteristics of the Christian viewpoint that influence the priority of the principles are humanism and patience.

References

Biggar, N. (2015). Why religion deserves a place in secular medicine. Journal of Medical Ethics, 41(3), 229-233.

Schreuder, M. (2017). Life with one kidney. Pediatric Nephrology, 33(4), 595-604. Web.