Muslim Patients' Religious & Spiritual Resource Needs in US Hospitals: Findings from a National Survey

Ummesalmah Abdulbaseer; Natasha Piracha; Mohamed Hamouda; Iman Farajallah; Samsiah Abdul-Majid; Shareif Abdelwahab; Warren K Teltser; Aasim I Padela

doi:10.1007/s11606-024-08960-y

Muslim Patients' Religious & Spiritual Resource Needs in US Hospitals: Findings from a National Survey

J Gen Intern Med. 2024 Sep 23. doi: 10.1007/s11606-024-08960-y. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Ummesalmah Abdulbaseer^{1

2}, Natasha Piracha^{1

3

4

5}, Mohamed Hamouda^{1

6}, Iman Farajallah^{1

7}, Samsiah Abdul-Majid^{1

8

9}, Shareif Abdelwahab^{1

10}, Warren K Teltser^{1

11}, Aasim I Padela^{12

13

14}

Affiliations

¹ Initiative On Islam and Medicine, Brookfield, WI, USA.
² University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
³ Division of Critical Care and Hospital Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and New York-Presbyterian, New York City, NY, USA.
⁴ Adult Palliative Care Service, Department of Medicine, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and New York-Presbyterian, New York City, NY, USA.
⁵ Islamic Medical Association of North America, Lombard, IL, USA.
⁶ University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
⁷ Iman Network, Santa Clara, CA, USA.
⁸ Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA, USA.
⁹ Association of Muslim Chaplains, New York, USA.
¹⁰ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
¹¹ Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland.
¹² Initiative On Islam and Medicine, Brookfield, WI, USA. apadela@mcw.edu.
¹³ University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA. apadela@mcw.edu.
¹⁴ Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA. apadela@mcw.edu.

PMID: 39313670
DOI: 10.1007/s11606-024-08960-y

Abstract

Background: Healthcare provided without attending to patients' religious/spiritual needs contributes to inequities.

Objective: Assess Muslim American views on the importance and accessibility of religious/spiritual resources in hospitals.

Design/participants/main measures: A survey was distributed at community events and online to self-reported Muslim adults. It contained measures of religiosity, importance and availability of specific religious/spiritual resources, and conventional sociodemographic descriptors. Analyses utilized chi-squared tests and regression models to test associations between participant characteristics and views on the importance and availability of religious/spiritual resources in hospitals.

Key results: Of the 1281 respondents, many (68%; n = 875) were women, and South Asian (39%; n = 492) or Arab (37%; n = 469). Almost all (95%; n = 1203) noted it was important to have their religious/spiritual needs met in the hospital. The most important resources were halal food (93%; n = 1188), a neutral prayer space (93%; n = 1188), and medications without pork or alcohol (92%; n = 1177), yet a minority found such resources available; halal food (17%; n = 111), prayer space (26%; n = 169), and medication without pork or alcohol (9.3%; n = 59). Almost all (92%, N = 1180) felt comfortable identifying as Muslim in the hospital, yet few (27%, N = 173) were asked. Participants with higher positive religious coping placed greater importance on religious/spiritual needs being met (OR 1.15, p < .05). Those regularly attending congregational prayer services (β 0.2, p < 0.001), with more positive religious coping (β 0.11, p < 0.001), for whom Islam informed their whole approach to life (β 0.34, p < 0.001), and those with greater perceived discrimination in medical settings (β 0.03, p < 0.022) placed greater importance on the availability of Islamic resources in hospital. Those asked about religious affiliation (OR 2.23, p < 0.01) had higher odds of believing their religious/spiritual needs were met.

Conclusions: Muslim Americans have substantial unmet religious/spiritual resource needs in hospital settings. Patient-centered, equitable care may be enhanced by clinicians inquiring about, and mobilizing resources to attend to these.