Four major ritual patterns are exhibited in a church-based clinic in
Jamaica that represents a model of collaborative clinical care catering to
spiritual, psychological, and orthodox medical needs. Three of the ritual
patterns correspond to the three sectors of care, with their different
beliefs and values, and this creates tension. The fourth pattern has the
potential to be a superordinate ritual that could bring the clinic together
in a cohesive approach to the task of health care, but this does not occur,
as staff and patients remain bound in their unique sociocultural traditions
and heritage.Abstract Teaser