Our communities are served by medical professionals (doctors, physician assistants, nurses, physical therapists, and dentists) who are members. We use the services of local hospitals and specialists for acute or difficult medical problems.
If someone has a long-term disability or illness, we pull together to give them the care they need within the community. This might mean ground floor accommodation, a hospital bed, or round-the-clock nursing care. Often an elderly couple or single person will form a small family unit with one or two younger people who can provide not only medical care but companionship and support as well.
Caring for one another is a privilege, and the benefits flow both ways – young people who have lived in a household with older people will tell you about lessons in humor, persistence, and humility that they’ve picked up in in the process.
As for end-of-life care, although it can of course be emotionally and physically demanding, accompanying a brother or sister in their final days is one of the most meaningful experiences in communal life. The community rallies around the dying person: children visit to deliver cheerful drawings or sing songs, brothers and sisters stop by to take leave, and often the whole church community gathers to stand outside the window of the dying person, to pray and sing songs of faith and encouragement.