Providing culturally appropriate care for Muslim women: Provider and consumer perspectives

Background/significance: Eliminating health disparities is one of the two overarching goals of the Healthy People 2010 initiative. Health disparities are most notable in minority and underserved populations. Muslim women are a fast-growing, under-studied, and underserved minority in the U.S. A few studies of Muslim women's self-perceived barriers to receiving quality care indicate that patients' religious and cultural beliefs, as well as providers' lack of accommodation of these beliefs, contribute to Muslim women's reluctance to seek health care. To date, no study has explored health care providers' perceptions about the challenges they face in providing quality care to Muslim women.

Objective/purpose: Explore provider and consumer perspectives about barriers to and recommendations for providing high-quality, culturally appropriate, patient-centered care to Muslim women.

Methods: Design: Cross sectional self-administered written survey. Participants: Healthcare providers (n=80), Muslim female consumers (n=27). Setting: Chicago, IL.

Results: Both providers and consumers experience significant barriers in the provision of culturally appropriate care to Muslim women. There was congruence among consumers' and providers' perceptions of the provision of quality care for Muslim women. Key recommendations included improving patient-provider communication, accommodating patients' religious/cultural needs, addressing language barriers, patient education, and cultural competency training for providers.

Discussion/conclusions: Strategies to provide culturally appropriate care to Muslim women require interventions directed at the consumer, the provider, and the healthcare system. The findings from this study can provide a framework for future research and the development of best practices aimed at ensuring high-quality, patient-centered, culturally appropriate care for Muslim women in the U.S.