Kontakt 2011, 13(1):38-47 | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2011.006

Life style of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsNursing

Helena Michálková^*, Valérie Tóthová, Lucie Rolantová

Jihočeská univerzita v Českých Budějovicích, Zdravotně sociální fakulta, katedra ošetřovatelství

Due to the migration, multicultural society is formed. The multicultural approach calls for trans-cultural understanding the society groups and individuals, which means an intersection of cultures. The professional nursing activity, which is focused on taking care of and helping individuals and groups with different cultures assumes knowledge and understanding of different cultures and non-standard conditions, and strengthening of interactions between nurses and individuals with different cultures, which requires mutual understanding, recognition, accepting and cooperation.
The contribution presented here is aimed at members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints colloquially referred to as the "Mormon Church". The members of this church claim to be the only Christian Church authorized by Jesus Christ. The church was established in the USA in 1830. In the Czech Republic, it was recognized in 1990.
One of targets of the research project, which was financed by the Internal Grant Agency of the Czech Ministry of Health, was mapping of specific features of the style of life of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints living in the Czech Republic.
The quantitative research examination was carried out with the help of a questionnaire, which was distributed among individual members of the the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The total number of all the questionnaires issued was of 300. For the data analysis, 161 questionnaires were used, which is a 53.7% rate of returns. In the present contribution, we considered principles of healthy food, consumption of alcohol, tobacco products, sleep and relaxation and physical activity.
The research results demonstrated that the members of the the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints adhere to healthy life style, refuse all the types of narcotic substances (coffee, black or green tea, alcohol and tobacco) and spend their time together with their families, either actively sporting or reading books. They consider their health as a God's gift, which must be protected. The belief in God supports their healthy life style.

Keywords: multicultural nursing; trans-cultural nursing; Mormons; the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; style of life; food

Received: February 1, 2011; Accepted: March 3, 2011; Published: March 28, 2011  Show citation