Patient-Centered Care for Muslim Women: Provider and Patient Perspectives

Abstract

Both providers and patients identify significant barriers to the provision of culturally appropriate care to Muslim women. Improving care would require a flexible and collaborative care model that respects and accommodates the needs of patients, provides opportunities for training providers and educating patients, and makes necessary adjustments in the healthcare system. The findings of this study can guide future research aimed at ensuring high-quality, culturally appropriate, patient-centered healthcare for Muslim women in the United States and other western countries.

Breast Cancer Screening Practices Among First-Generation Immigrant Muslim Women

“…[34][35][36][37][38] Considering that mammograms are not part of the routine screening process in public hospitals in their home countries and are usually recommended only as part of the diagnostic workup after a lump has been detected, raising awareness of the importance of routine and regular screening is vitally important. When designing breast cancer screening programs for immigrant Muslim women, our findings indicate that increasing both self-efficacy and intention to be screened is essential, as well as ensuring the provision of a primary healthcare provider.…”

Developing a Measure of Cultural-, Maturity-, or Esteem-Driven Modesty Among Jewish Women

“…Therefore, the Fetzer Multidimensional Measurement of Religiousness/Spirituality for Use in Health Research (Fetzer Institute/National Institute on Aging Working Group, 1999) was included for evaluation when testing the hypotheses for construct validity. The second theoretical assumption was that Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Jewish people are considered separate groups; therefore, "known groups" validation (Kline, 1998) could be used to test the hypotheses. Validity estimation included convergent, discriminant, and construct validity also using hypothesis testing.…”

“…Muslim and/or Arab modesty originates from guidelines on "gender" and have been reported as barriers to health screening (Hasnain, Connell, Menon, & Tranmer, 2011;Lawrence & Rozmus, 2001;Padela et al, 2011;Rajaram & Rashidi, 1999). Rules include interaction between men and women and rules for dress, exposure of the body, and contact with the opposite gender for health care (emergency excepted).…”

“…Rules include interaction between men and women and rules for dress, exposure of the body, and contact with the opposite gender for health care (emergency excepted). There is a similarity of Jewish and Arab/Muslim cultures in the role of gender rules regarding intergender behavior on speaking, touching, participating in entertainment settings, and dressing (Hasnain et al, 2011;Shulchan Aruch, 2013, Even HaEzer §22). Most research on Muslim women, even in the United States, depict modesty as a barrier to mammography and breast cancer screening (Salman, 2012), and clearly, the cultural meaning of modesty is important for all Muslim women.…”

Muslim Women's Preferences in the Medical Setting: How Might They Contribute to Disparities in Health Outcomes?

“…5 Past research indicates that providers often lack awareness of the strong preferences many Muslim women have for modesty and for a female provider, particularly with regard to breast, rectal, and gynecological examinations. 6 This lack of understanding may heighten healthcare-associated anxiety for these patients. Muslim women in the United States are also less likely than other women to undergo screening for breast and cervical cancer.…”