Health Care Behaviours and Beliefs in Hasidic Jewish Populations: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Abstract

Cultural issues impact on health care, including individuals' health care behaviours and beliefs. Hasidic Jews, with their strict religious observance, emphasis on kabbalah, cultural insularity and spiritual leader, their Rebbe, comprise a distinct cultural group. The reviewed studies reveal that Hasidic Jews may seek spiritual healing and incorporate religion in their explanatory models of illness; illness attracts stigma; psychiatric patients' symptomatology may have religious content; social and cultural factors may challenge health care delivery. The extant research has implications for clinical practice. However, many studies exhibited methodological shortcomings with authors providing incomplete analyses of the extent to which findings are authentically Hasidic. High-quality research is required to better inform the provision of culturally competent care to Hasidic patients.

Studying Public Perception about Vaccination: A Sentiment Analysis of Tweets

“…In 2019, the debate over the vaccination requirement in schools was reignited [63][64][65]. A majority of measles cases reported since the beginning of the outbreak in October 2018 involved unvaccinated children in Hasidic Jewish communities [66][67][68]. In response to the measles epidemic, in June 2019, New York state lawmakers approved a new law that banned religious exemptions to school vaccination requirements [69].…”

“…Figure 10 shows the top 10 trigram phrases in vaccine-related tweets. "Vaccine cause autism" (380), "vaccine save life" (87), and "vaccine safe effective" (66) are the top three trigram phrases. There are three negative phrases among the top 10 trigram phrases.…”

“…The other two negative phrases are "link vaccine autism" (41) and "vaccine injured child" (30). Positive phrases in the top 10 trigram phrases are "vaccine save life" (87), "vaccine safe effective" (66) and "vaccine preventable disease" (34). However, the number of all the positive phrases is less than the number of "vaccine cause autism."…”

Barriers to Cancer Screening Among Orthodox Jewish Women

“…Fear was a not a motivator; rather it was a reason to turn to God and not rely on oneself when it comes to cancer screening. In their review of the literature on the beliefs of health issues in Orthodox Jewish community, Coleman-Brueckheimer and Dein [26] discuss using religion as an explanatory model of illness. In the context of this study, this religious explanatory model may serve as a coping mechanism of this fear and be a significant barrier to seeking cancer screening.…”

“…Few studies have been conducted within the Orthodox community because, consistent with the value on insularity, research requires the involvement of Rabbinic leaders and other communal authorities [26, 27]. For example, in a study to explore Orthodox Jewish women’s cancer experiences, Coleman-Brueckheimer et al [27] created an advisory panel that included Rabbis and a community leader and included this advisory panel as partners in the research process.…”