Issues post-stroke for Muslim people in maintaining the practice of salat (prayer): A qualitative study

The impact of cultural healthcare practices on Children's health in the United Arab Emirates: a qualitative study of traditional remedies and implications

Aim

This qualitative study investigates the impact of cultural practices on children's health in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by examining the use of traditional remedies and home treatments by mothers.

Methods

Twenty-five participants, all mothers who had employed traditional treatments or home remedies for their children during periods of illness, were included in the study. The participants represented a diverse range of educational backgrounds, from school diploma holders to university degree graduates, with ages spanning from 20 to 50 years. Hailing from different Arabic countries and cultural subgroups, the majority of participating mothers were from the UAE.

Results

Through in-depth interviews, three major themes emerged from the participants' experiences. Firstly, a strong connection between culture, religion, and healthcare practices was evident. Many mothers opted for cultural remedies as their first line of defense against illnesses due to the practices' strong foundations in their cultural heritage. Herbal remedies, Quranic healing, and other traditional methods were perceived to be both effective and spiritually comforting, reinforcing participants' sense of cultural identity. Secondly, participants highlighted unintended consequences of relying solely on traditional treatments. Some instances were reported where the use of ineffective remedies resulted in delays in seeking appropriate medical care for their children, potentially compromising their health. Additionally, certain misconceptions regarding the safety and efficacy of traditional remedies were identified, emphasizing the need for evidence-based healthcare education.

Conclusion

This qualitative study sheds light on the intricate interplay between culture, traditional remedies, and children's health in the UAE. The incorporation of diverse participants from various Arabic countries and cultural subgroups enriches the study's applicability to broader Arabic cultures. By recognizing the significance of cultural healthcare practices and striking a balance with evidence-based care, healthcare providers can create a more inclusive and effective healthcare environment for children in the UAE. Future research should explore diverse samples and develop targeted interventions to further advance cultural awareness and understanding in healthcare practices.

Dermatological Implications of the Taqiyah and Imamah: Recommendations for Delivering Culturally Conscious Care

Background and objective The growing cultural and religious diversity in healthcare settings necessitates clinicians to integrate cultural competence and sensitivity into their practice. Despite significant research focusing on the hijab worn by Muslim women, there is a gap in understanding the dermatological implications of the taqiyah and imamah, worn by Muslim men. In light of this, this study aimed to offer insights into delivering culturally conscious dermatological care for Muslim men wearing these garments, thereby bridging a crucial knowledge gap. Materials and methods The study employed a comprehensive research strategy that encompassed both medical literature and foundational Islamic texts. PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus were used for medical literature searches, while al-Maktabah al-Shamela and Sunnah.com, along with Quranic and Hadith translations were consulted for religious insights. A thematic analysis was employed to identify patterns, challenges, and unique points, ensuring a holistic understanding of the subject. Results Our findings revealed that wearing a taqiyah or imamah has both beneficial and detrimental dermatological effects, depending on factors such as climate, fabric, and hygiene practices. While the garments are rooted in Islamic tradition, their use varies based on cultural context rather than strict religious guidelines. Moreover, gender dynamics and the concept of privacy ('awrah) within Islamic teachings have implications for healthcare interactions. The study offers practical guidelines for dermatological care tailored to Muslim men wearing a taqiyah or imamah. It emphasizes the importance of material choice, hygiene practices, and the willingness of many Muslim men to be accommodating in medical settings, albeit with some reservations. The paper also discusses the role of telemedicine in culturally sensitive healthcare delivery, recommending measures such as secure communication channels and self-imaging options. Conclusion The paper provides comprehensive recommendations aimed at delivering culturally and religiously sensitive dermatological care to Muslim men wearing a taqiyah or imamah. By integrating both medical best practices and a nuanced understanding of Islamic customs, healthcare providers can foster a more trusting and effective care relationship, thereby improving patient satisfaction and dermatological outcomes.

The Unmet Needs of Caregiving Skills, Support, Emotions, and Finances of Stroke Caregivers: A Multicenter Study

​​​​​​Background Informal stroke caregivers in Malaysia play an important role in supporting stroke survivors following acute care. Nevertheless, there is a lack of available data to inform the sufficiency of help and resources available to address the needs of local stroke caregivers. This study aimed to determine the unmet needs in caregiving skills, support, emotions, and finances as well as the associated factors of stroke caregivers in Malaysia. Methodology This multicenter, cross-sectional study used a self-administered survey developed and validated for the Malaysian population. It was prepared in paper-based and web-based formats, and it was distributed via direct contact with the respondents, post, and email. Respondents were recruited from different sites in Malaysia. In this study, unmet needs were defined as "help that was needed more or was not provided to assist caregivers and address their specific needs." This article only presents the quantitative data of this study. Data were analyzed using descriptive analysis and logistic regression to determine factors associated with unmet needs. Results Almost all study respondents (91%) reported having unmet needs. Unmet needs ranged from 1 to 10, while the mean unmet needs was 5. The highest unmet need was related to financial support (72.5%), followed by support from professionals to address their own needs (59.2%), skills to care for stroke survivors, i.e., skills in caring for stroke survivors with their daily activities (57.9%), and skills in supporting stroke survivors to perform rehabilitation at home (53.1%). The lowest unmet need was related to support in transporting stroke survivors from place to place (45.3%). Additionally, this study did not identify an association between the reported unmet needs and gender, age, ethnicity, duration of caregiving, and site of participation. Conclusions This study reported a range of unmet needs perceived by stroke caregivers in Malaysia. Further research is warranted to understand the gaps in supporting local stroke caregivers to inform future post-stroke support and services in the country.

Database covering the prayer movements which were not available previously

Lower body implants are designed according to the boundary conditions of gait data and tested against. However, due to diversity in cultural backgrounds, religious rituals might cause different ranges of motion and different loading patterns. Especially in the Eastern part of the world, diverse Activities of Daily Living (ADL) consist of salat, yoga rituals, and different style sitting postures. A database covering these diverse activities of the Eastern world is non-existent. This study focuses on data collection protocol and the creation of an online database of previously excluded ADL activities, targeting 200 healthy subjects via Qualisys and IMU motion capture systems, and force plates, from West and Middle East Asian populations with a special focus on the lower body joints. The current version of the database covers 50 volunteers for 13 different activities. The tasks are defined and listed in a table to create a database to search based on age, gender, BMI, type of activity, and motion capture system. The collected data is to be used for designing implants to allow these sorts of activities to be performed.

Needs for nurses to provide spiritual care and their associated influencing factors among elderly inpatients with stroke in China: A cross-sectional quantitative study

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the spiritual care needs and associated influencing factors among elderly inpatients with stroke, and to examine the correlations among spiritual care needs, spiritual well-being, self-perceived burden, self-transcendence, and social support.

METHODS

A cross-sectional quantitative design was implemented, and the STROBE Checklist was used as the foundation of the study. A convenience sample of 458 elderly inpatients with stroke was selected from three hospitals in China. The sociodemographic characteristics questionnaire, the Nurse Spiritual Therapeutics Scale, the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-being, the Self-Perceived Burden Scale, the Chinese Self-Transcendence Scale, and the Perceived Social Support Scale were used. Descriptive statistics, correlation, Student's t-test, ANOVA, non-parametric, and multiple linear regression analyses were used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

The total score of spiritual care needs was 29.82 ± 7.65. Spiritual care needs were positively correlated with spiritual well-being (r = 0.709, p < 0.01), self-transcendence (r = 0.710, p < 0.01), and social support (r = 0.691, p < 0.01), whereas being negatively correlated with self-perceived burden (r = -0.587, p < 0.01). Religious beliefs, educational level, residence place, disease course, spiritual well-being, self-perceived burden, self-transcendence, and social support were found to be the main influencing factors.

SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS

The spiritual care needs were prevalent and moderate. It is suggested that nurses should enhance spiritual care knowledge and competence, take targeted spiritual care measures according to inpatients' individual personality traits or characteristics and differences of patients, reduce their self-perceived burden and improve their spiritual well-being, self-transcendence and social support in multiple ways and levels, so as to meet their spiritual care needs to the greatest extent and enhance their spiritual comfort.

Why Me?: A Qualitative Study on the Experiences of Young Stroke Survivors in the Accra Metropolis of Ghana, West Africa

Young stroke survivors are affected gravely when diagnosed with stroke between the ages of 18 to 45 years. The psychological and social effects of young stroke require stringent coping factors geared toward recovery and regeneration of self. A qualitative exploratory design was used to explore coping experiences and purposive sampling technique was employed to recruit 10 participants. Data were collected using tape recorded interviews which lasted between 45 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes and guided by a semistructured interview guide which was informed by the research objectives and literature review. Thematic content analysis was used to analyze the transcribed data and 6 themes namely: psychological disruption, disruption to social identity, spiritual practices and beliefs, self-determination, support, and herbal medicine were derived. These themes gave insight into how these young stroke victims experienced and coped with physical signs and symptoms which negatively impacted their activities of daily living and resulted in social isolation, fear, anxiety, depression, guilt, and suicidal ideations. Provision of continuity of care for young adults living with stroke is highly recommended.

Relationship Between Praying and Self-Care in Elderly with Heart Failure: A Cross-Sectional Study in West of Iran

Given the prevalence of Heart Failure (HF), the current study was conducted, aiming to determine the relationship between praying and self-care in the patients with HF in Iran in 2018. The type of the study is descriptive-analytical, which has been conducted in patient group of more than 65, suffering HF. The population of study has consisted of HF patients, referring to Shahid Mostafa Khomeini Hospital of Ilam province. Therefore, the patients, referring to this hospital for medical treatments, were included in this study. The study data were analyzed using software SPSS16. The findings showed there was a significant relationship between the severity of prayer and the demographic variables, such as gender (p < 0.004), education (p < 0.03), and duration of the disease (p < 0.001). The findings also showed that there was a relationship between self-care and gender (p < 0.001), education (p < 0.004), and duration of disease (p < 0.001). Also, the findings showed that there is a relationship between self-care and prayer (r = 727), so that increasing the amount of prayer will increase self-care. The mean (SD) of total prayer is 167.33 (10.49) and total self-care is 35.86 (10.60). With the increase in the rate of praying, their self-care increased. Based upon this, religious interventions are recommended to be held for this group of patients, focusing on praying.

The Individual Coaching Improves Spiritually Muslim Patients Hospitalized

Background: Inpatients who are attached in intravenous devices tend to experience physical discomfort. This condition can lead to the decrease in performing Salat as a Muslim prayer. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of individual coaching on knowledge, attitude, and practice of Salat among Muslim inpatient. This study used quasi-experimental design.Mehods: The samples were 36 Muslim inpatients. The data were collected by self-constructed questionnaire and analyzed by using Independent t-test and Mann Whitney test with α ≤ 0.05.Results: Before giving intervention, the means of pretest score in both groups were 14.33+2.17 and 14.39+2.28 for knowledge, 26.17+2.31 and 26.50+3.17 for attitude, and 10.00+2.91 and 10.50+3.45 for practice. There was no significant difference scores of knowledge (p=0.941), attitude (p=0.924), and practice (p=0.635) between two groups before giving intervention. However, after giving intervention, these scores have changed to 19.00+1.72 and 14.89+2.29 for knowledge, 26.97+2.25 and 26.61+2.81 for attitude, 15.33+3.80 and 10.50+3.45 for practice and there was higher significance scores of knowledge (p=0.000), attitude (p=0.003), and practice (p=0.000) after giving intervention.Conclusions: Coaching is the suitable method to increase Muslim inpatients knowledge, attitude, and ability to practice Salat. This study recommends the nurse to do coaching as a nursing intervention in helping patient to perform Salat

Healthcare needs of the Muslim patient community in the undergraduate medical curriculum - Are we there?

Objective:

Muslim patients have a unique set of healthcare needs that are related to their faith. These are generally not formally addressed in the medical curricula. The study aimed to recommend additional content that would better tailor the undergraduate curriculum to cater to the needs of this large cohort – Muslim patients. This is with the expectation that patients would have their faith-related health queries resolved by healthcare providers.

Methods:

A quantitative descriptive survey design was adopted. A 46-item questionnaire formulated through a literature review was put forth to experts using the Delphi Technique. Experts were selected based on having an academic rank of associate professor and above or medical education credentials. Three iterative rounds were conducted for exploring consensus over a period of five months. Panel agreement of >70% was the criteria for inclusion.

Results:

Items were categorized under 7 subject themes: Medicine, Psychiatry, Surgery, Gynecology, Obstetrics, Medical Ethics, and Islamic Studies. Consensus was eventually reached for 41 out of 46 items. These topics included but were not limited to “The Muslim patient in Ramadan to: fast or not to fast?” and “Muslim women and decision-making on pregnancy termination”.

Conclusion:

The study suggested that the topics proposed herein were in fact legitimate faith-related healthcare needs of Muslim patients. Their inclusion would add value to the undergraduate medical curriculum and would train practitioners to improve patient outcomes more holistically.