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

• Published in: Journal of general internal medicine : JGIM 2024-09
• Main Authors: Abdulbaseer, Ummesalmah, Piracha, Natasha, Hamouda, Mohamed, Farajallah, Iman, Abdul-Majid, Samsiah, Abdelwahab, Shareif, Teltser, Warren K, Padela, Aasim I
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0884-8734; 1525-1497; 1525-1497
• DOI: 10.1007/s11606-024-08960-y

Healthcare provided without attending to patients' religious/spiritual needs contributes to inequities. Assess Muslim American views on the importance and accessibility of religious/spiritual resources in hospitals. 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. 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