There are many ways to live life. One approach is to focus on caring for people during challenging times. Different people follow this approach in different ways.
Some care for others as parents, educators, medics, counsellors, decision makers or in other roles. Some care for people who are experiencing crises. Some care for others during difficult times in a society.
People who follow this approach may take they following steps. First, they believe in caring for people. Second, they translate the caring into action. Third, they continue to care for people during the challenging times.
Some people follow their caring ethic when their country elects an uncaring government. They aim to care for others and keep the caring ethic alive in their society.
Such people often gain strength from following such an ethic. They also encourage others by translating the caring into action. Let’s look at some examples.
The Altruistic Personality – Caring
For People In Challenging Times
Samuel and Pearl Oliner have devoted much of their lives to studying humanity at its best. Their books include The Altruistic Personality and Do Unto Others.
The Altruistic Personality chronicles the activities of people who protected Jews during the Holocaust. Up to 500,000 non-Jews risked their own lives to rescue the victims of Nazi persecution.
These were ordinary people, say Pearl and Samuel. They were farmers, teachers, entrepreneurs, factory workers, rich and poor, parents and single people, Protestants and Catholics.
Different people helped the Jews in different ways. Some offered them shelter, some helped them escape from prison and some smuggled them out of the country.
The rescuers committed themselves to helping Jews, knowing that capture would mean death for their families. Why? Many said, “It was the right thing to do.” Individuals also said things like:
“I was always filled with love for everyone, for every creature, for things. I am fused into every object. For me everything is alive.”
“I sensed I had in front of me human beings that were hunted down like wild animals. This aroused a feeling of brotherhood and a desire to help.”
“We had to help these people in order to save them, not because they were Jews, but because they were persecuted human beings who needed help.”
Let’s return to the genesis of The Altruistic Personality. Samuel illustrates the moral of the book by describing his own experiences.
As a 12-year-old Jewish boy in Poland, he fled the Nazis after his parents were captured. Knocking on the door of a family he hardly knew, he was taken in by the mother, Balwina.
Protecting him from the Nazis, she gave her instructions. Change his name to Jusek; go to church every Sunday; learn the Catholic Catechism; get a job and ensure nobody saw him undressed.
Balwina protected him for a while, but then the situation became too dangerous. He trekked across the country with other refugees and finally found safety.
Samuel wrote another book on the theme of helping other people called Do Unto Others. In it he focuses on heroic, moral and philanthropic individuals who translated these values into action.
In addition to well-known names, he describes the activities of hidden heroines and heroes in many countries. Here is the introduction from the page on Amazon.
A passing motorist stops to help the passengers of a car that has crashed into an embankment. A hospice volunteer begins her shift in hospital ward caring for people with AIDS.
A Vietnam chopper pilot stops the brutal execution of innocent civilians at Mylai by American soldiers. A firefighter responds to a routine call.
All of these people are considered heroes, but what motivates such brave and altruistic acts, whether by trained professionals or just ordinary people?
In Do Unto Others, Holocaust survivor and sociologist Samuel Oliner explores what gives an individual a sense of social responsibility, what leads to the development of care and compassion, and what it means to put the welfare of others ahead of one’s own.
Weaving together moving personal testimony and years of observation, Oliner makes sense of the factors that elicit altruistic behavior – exceptional acts by ordinary people in ordinary times.
Samuel discovered that many such people had learned optimism and concern for others from their parents, teachers, peer groups and communities. They then chose to translate this moral code into action in challenging circumstances.
The Oliners have shown what we can learn from humanity at its best. We can choose to follow these principles in our own ways to show kindness and help other people.
The National Health Service – Caring For
People At Critical Times In Their Lives
There are many ways to care for people who are experiencing challenges in their lives. Many people in the United Kingdom aim to help others by working in the National Health Service.
The NHS came into being in 1948 and had three core principles. These were: to meet the needs of everyone, to be free at the point of delivery and to be based on clinical need rather than ability to pay.
People in the UK are proud of the NHS, even though it is now creaking and may need rethinking. It employs more than 1.4 million staff and is committed to providing care for the nation.
Many people testify to the treatment given to them as individuals. The NHS also rose to the occasion when rolling out the Covid vaccine and caring for those deeply affected by the disease.
The organisation doesn’t always get it right and there have been tragic issues concerning mistreatments. But the vast majority of medical and other staff aim to do their best for patients.
The NHS aims to demonstrate caring in action at some of the most challenging times in people’s lives. It is an organisation that aims to live its values rather than just laminate its values. Here is an overview of those values.
Our Values
Our values reflect the shared values of all NHS organisations, as defined in the NHS Constitution, and underpin all that we do:
Working together for patients
Patients come first in everything we do. We fully involve patients, staff, families, carers, communities, and professionals inside and outside the NHS. We put the needs of patients and communities before organisational boundaries. We speak up when things go wrong.
Respect and dignity
We value every person – whether patient, their families or carers, or staff – as an individual, respect their aspirations and commitments in life, and seek to understand their priorities, needs, abilities and limits.
We take what others have to say seriously. We are honest and open about our point of view and what we can and cannot do.
Commitment to quality of care
We earn the trust placed in us by insisting on quality and striving to get the basics of quality of care – safety, effectiveness and patient experience – right every time.
We encourage and welcome feedback from patients, families, carers, staff and public. We use this to improve the care we provide and build on our successes.
Compassion
We ensure that compassion is central to the care we provide and respond with humanity and kindness to each person’s pain, distress, anxiety or need.
We search for things we can do, however small, to give comfort and relieve suffering.
We find time for patients, their families and carers, as well as those we work alongside. We do not wait to be asked, because we care.
Improving lives
We strive to improve health and wellbeing and people’s experiences of the NHS. We cherish excellence and professionalism wherever we find it – in the everyday things that make people’s lives better as much as in clinical practice, service improvements and innovation.
We recognise that all have a part to play in making ourselves, patients and our communities healthier.
Everyone counts
We maximise our resources for the benefit of the whole community, and make sure nobody is excluded, discriminated against or left behind.
We accept that some people need more help, that difficult decisions have to be taken – and that when we waste resources we waste opportunities for others.
The NHS is not perfect and needs to evolve with the times. But the people who choose to work in it continue to care for people at some of the most challenging times of their lives.
Action For Happiness – Aiming To Build
A Happier And More Caring Society
Action For Happiness was founded in 2011 by Richard Layard, Geoff Mulgan and Anthony Seldon. It brings together people from all walks of life who want to play a part in creating a happier society for everyone.
The movement focuses on how to translate caring into action. It offers meetings, workshops and apps that provide practical tools that enable people to shape a positive future.
Action For Happiness recognises that people have ups and downs. Bearing this in mind, it offers practical ways that people can use to manage their emotions and, when appropriate, also help others. Here are excerpts from its website.
Many people want to encourage others but feel concerned about challenging things that are happening in the world. How to deal with such concerns?
Some people choose to focus on what they can control. They then aim: a) to care for people; b) to translate this caring into action; c) to follow this ethic and spread more caring in the world.
Such people may not need to show the courage described in The Altruistic Personality. They may aim to care for people in their work, however, or help people to shape their future happiness.
Let’s return to your own life and work. Looking ahead, can you think of a situation where you may want to follow elements of this approach? How can you do this in your own way?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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