MEDICAL ASSISTANCE AND ORTHODOX TRADITIONS IN RUSSIA

The article examines the participation and assistance of the Orthodox Church in solving problems that allowed to give a scientific justification for the cooperation of health care and Orthodox religious institutions, to determine their role in the historical context and structure of modern healthcare in Russia. The article presents an algorithm for organizing sisters of mercy, their system of upbringing. Particular attention is given to the possibility of teaching the course "Foundations of Orthodox Culture" in secular educational institutions. Research materials can serve as a basis for the formation of morally sound positions of medical workers and the population on the main problems of medical activity. Based on the study, the authors published a series of articles in which the experience of the work of the Orthodox Church in the charitable sphere has been summarized. This experience can be used to create new charitable institutions, including those who provided medical assistance. In preparing the article, the authors used concrete historical, civilizational, formational and social methods of research that allowed us to uncover facts, phenomena and processes in the interconnection and unity of the past, present and future.The study was conducted in the methodological field of the sociology of medicine. The research program was of a multistage nature and provided for the use of a methodology based on traditional methods of socio-hygienic, medical-organizational and historical-analytical nature, adapted to the specifics of the purposes followed by statistical processing and data analysis. In the work to achieve the goal and implement research tasks, a number of methods of concrete sociology are offered: a survey, in-depth interviews, expert interviews, content analysis, a biographical method3. The organizational chart of the interaction of Orthodox organizations and bodies of practical health, developed in this article, is based on historical traditions of the charitable activities of the Russian Orthodox Church. This scheme takes into account modern socio-economic realities. This scheme proved to be effective in the organization of medical care and can serve as a basic model for the development of cooperation between the Church and medical institutions. Given the deep historical evidence of the important role of Orthodox Christianity in preserving health and creating a healthy lifestyle for the population, it should be recognized that the development of special programs for cooperation between medical organizations and the Church is justified in modern conditions