(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Researchers from the University of Chicago found that respecting the estimated 7 million Muslims in the United States and their religious values can help bridge the gap between health care professionals and this large religious group.
The group interviewed more than 100 Muslims in southeastern Michigan, which boasts one of the nation's largest Muslim American communities.
To assess the common health care values of this diverse religious community, researchers conducted 13 focus groups organized through mosques chosen to represent each of the community's ethnic backgrounds.
"Most participants perceived illness through a religious lens as predestined," the researchers wrote, "a trial from God by which one's sins are removed, an opportunity for spiritual reward, a reminder to improve one's health, and sometimes a sign of personal failure to follow Islam's tenets."
According to the study published online by the Institute for Social Policy & Understanding in Washington, DC, celebrating Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, is one of many traditions that might influence a Muslim patient's health care.
The authors also considered the Muslim belief that God is responsible for health, disease and healing as a significant area of overlap between Muslims' and the health care system's views.
"The idea was to talk about the health care values of American Muslim patients and the challenges they face inside the health care system," said Dr. Aasim Padela, lead author from the university's Initiative on Islam and Medicine.
"We looked at American Muslims as a conglomerate and asked what was common," Padela added. "We wanted to talk to each of these three large groups, which we know comprise the majority of American Muslims, and look at what's similar in terms of health care challenges and beliefs. What we found as similar is something we can attribute to their faith.
"The findings can guide us as we move forward on accommodating these patients and others."
The study suggested that cultural sensitivity training for medical staff, providing culturally familiar food and offering hospitalized Muslims a place to pray would also help bridge the gap between health care professionals and this large and ethnically diverse religious group.
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