Cultural Issues Facing Arab Muslims Seeking Healthcare Services in United States

Health in all cultures is an important aspect of life. A person’s cultural background, religion and/or beliefs, greatly influences a person’s health and their response to medical care (Spector, 2004). These diverse cultures guide decisions made in daily life; what food eaten, living arrangements made, medications taken and medical advice listened to. A nurse must be knowledgeable and respectful of these diverse cultures and understand their importance when providing care. This understanding helps to build a strong nurse/patient relationship, increasing patient compliance, which ensures positive outcomes are met. Patients who are satisfied

With the increasing immigrant population a third barrier affecting access to health care is a cultural barrier. Culture barriers can include values and beliefs, language and race and ethnicity. Health beliefs and behavior can become a barrier when patients decide not to seek medical treatment and instead turn to home remedies and healers when treating illnesses. Approximately 10% of Americans speak a language other than English and can be classified ad being limited in their proficiency. For these patients language becomes a barrier and they are less likely to receive optimal medical treatment (Flores, 2006). Horton and Johnson (2010) stress the importance of communication in reducing disparities and increasing the trust of patients in the health care system. As reported by the American College of Physicians, evidence reveals that racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to receive inferior care when compared with non-minorities. This occurs even when minorities have access to insurance and adequate income (Racial and ethnic disparities in health care, 2010).

The cultural health beliefs are specific for the Arabs with the main concern of the family. The family’s role is to indulge the sick person and take responsibilities off his or her shoulders (Salimbene et al., 2000 pg. 135). According to Meleis (2005 pg. 52), the family is central in both society and culture. When a woman is pregnant, the woman must be satisfied because “it is believed that the unborn child may develop a birthmark in the shape of the unsatisfied craving” (Salimbene et al., 2000). In the Arab culture, pain is harmful and should be controlled because the family does not want to see the patient

Historically, Muslim interaction with our healthcare is tangled between religion and their history in our country. Specific believes have always played a role in the ability for women to attend a health care establishment or undergoing daily assessments from a health provider.

The first step to properly caring for a patient is acceptance. A nurse must accept the fact that not everyone is the same. Communities consist of many diverse ethnicities and spiritual practices. A nurse has to learn how to throw out all the judge mental thoughts of an individual and try to view the situation through the eyes of the patient. To be culturally competent in the professional practice of nursing, a health care worker must show respect. Health care workers cannot force a patient to go through with a procedure. The individual must respect the wishes of the patient to deny medical care whether it be because of spiritual reasons or just fear of the unknown. Most importantly, a health care worker must be culturally competent in order to avoid misdiagnosis of a patient. Judging a

According to the United States Census Bureau (2013), there were a total of 114.2 million Arab households residing in the U.S. between 2006 and 2010. Out of those households, one in three was Lebanese (Asi & Beaulieu, 2013). Chances are nurses in the United States are going to facilitate people of Middle Eastern descent, particularly those from Lebanon. Lebanese Muslims are predominately of the Sunni or Shia sects (The Iran Primer, 2014). To better understand how to care for a Sunni or Shia Muslim as a nursing professional, this paper will examine the cultural beliefs of such a patient that is undergoing a radical mastectomy for Breast Cancer. The discourse of this paper will focus on three areas: the psychological effect of being subjected

In the United States today cultural diversity is growing more prevalent every day. The report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM: Unequal treatment, 2002) presented information that racial and ethnic minorities of all ages receive lower quality health care compared to their non-minority counterparts. Every effort should be made to stop the disparities surrounding cultural differences while attempting to understand the cultural health behaviors, increase cultural

The purpose of this paper is to inform readers on the culturally competent strategies that ameliorate health disparities in this country. Over the years health issues have increase rapidly. There are different ethnic backgrounds shows that their health plays a big role culturally and also diversity.

As America is rich in multi cultural immigrants’ diversities in culture, beliefs, faiths and religion are not uncommon among American population. Health care profession is one of the major areas that are affected with these diversities of culture, beliefs, faiths and religion. While there are many advantages of rich and diverse heritage, it’s challenging for health care professionals to deal with those from various faith/ spiritual background, especially for minority religious groups. However, in order to provide best available care health care professionals

In today’s society, it is very important for the healthcare professional to be educated about the culture of their patients. It can be seen that the number of patients who are Muslim are increasing throughout the healthcare system. It is challenging for healthcare workers to care for the needs of Muslim patients when they don’t understand their cultural beliefs. Muslims don’t necessarily have the same health beliefs, outcomes, or priorities that their providers have, therefore making it more difficult to come to a final healthcare decision (Al-Oraibi, 2009.) “This intercultural gap in understanding between clients and providers may result in poor care services and low levels of satisfaction” (Al-Oraibi, 2009.) Muslims are

Health maintenance and health protection. In the American culture, individual attend follow up appointments and yearly exams for their health maintenance and protection. In Pacific Islander culture health maintenance and health protection are not always pursued initially, but they do not refuse health preventions either. Children get their immunization shots to help prevent disease and families also attend follow up appointments and exams (D. Perez, personal communication, October 27, 2013). In Islamic culture, they do not pursued health maintenance or health protection, individuals that live in Jordan and even those brought up in America stick with family traditions of attending Mosque for their educational schooling. The Mosque does not require immunizations for children. In Jordan, families live in close net community and when someone gets sick they seek the guidance of the eldest member of their community. This is in part done due to financial issues and partly done due to their traditions (A. Hammad, personal communication, October 30, 2013).

Sayed et al. (2003) research show the importance of Arab American unique characteristics affect the healing process for those individuals who are not custom to the American way of life. Arab American families is only looking for respect from other cultures that already prejudge them by only seeking their culture from an outside view. The common feeling of at Arab American is alienation from a American because of their culture beliefs, customs, and values. Prejudice and discrimination for Arab Americans may cause major psychological issues (i.e. depression, low self-esteem, and lack of

The United States population has been described as a “melting pot” and continues to increase in diversity. A patient’s culture has a significant influence on how their health care should be provided. It is vital for nurses as health care providers to be culturally competent and knowledgeable of the patient’s culture to deliver appropriate, holistic care (Potter & Perry, 2011). This paper will discuss the Arab culture and focus mainly on what to do and not to do as a nurse rendering care to an Arab patient.

List some approaches the health care professional can use to address religious and cultural diversity.

Arab is not a race, but is a group of individuals that are united by their culture and history (ADC, 2014). There are many different variations commonly based on a particular individual’s country of origin such as Arab Americans. Other variations are based on their social class, the level of their education, if they live urbanely or rurally, or the time they have spent in the United States (Lipson & Dubble, 2007). Most Arabs also practice Islamic religion and are Muslim. When working with an Arab or Muslim client, nurses should ask what the client wishes to be referred to so as not to offend them in any way (Lipson & Dubble, 2007).