Applying Narrative Authority to Change Healthcare Practices to Protect the Rights and Dignity of Muslim Women
Fahmida Hossain, PhD student, Center for Healthcare Ethics, Duquesne University
Physicians increasingly encounter diverse patient populations. Therefore, it is critical that physicians and healthcare professionals better understand the cultural and religious norms and expectations of these diverse populations. Patients comfort zones vary, depending on different religious and cultural practices, particularly when it comes to women. In the era of cultural competency and patient-centered care, it is essential to recognize and respond to the disconnects which occur from and through these blind spots in intercultural dynamics.
In particular, the norms and practices prevalent in Islam, as they apply to healthcare, are little explored in the West. There are specific, common processes in the patient-physician encounter that often leave Muslim women feeling uncomfortable and vulnerable. Muslim women are guided by the dictates and norms of their religious practices. Widespread clinical practices Muslim women face include inter-gender interactions that concern dress code and physical contact with opposite sex. A common Islamic tradition claims that when a man and woman are alone, a third person is also present—Satan. Even shaking hands with the opposite sex is prohibited in Islam.
Considering these religious and normative concerns, it is extremely difficult for practicing Muslim women to comfortably and faithfully engaged in Western medical practices. Western culture generally, and healthcare specifically, doesn’t yet understand the need and importance to accommodate common Islamic practices. These concerns are particularly prevalent in instances of examining and diagnosing pain, where physical contact is often required. A Muslim woman generally becomes uncomfortable when she is asked to expose her body in order to be physically examined, or even to be alone with a member of the opposite sex.
To develop a culturally competent health care, practices and norms must be revised in response to the needs and expectations of Muslim women. This paper addresses the normative and faith-oriented challenges the Muslim Women face in Western healthcare settings. It also recommended some practical solutions to protect Muslim women’s rights and dignity through the lens of Narrative Authority.
Narrative Authority is an approach which helps individuals to see and be-with one another through the shared power of their stories. The solutions proposed through the lens of Narrative Authority are intended to create practices to overcome or mitigate the embarrassing or uncomfortable healthcare situations in which Muslim women often find themselves. Narrative Authority can help build an effective healthcare system which is founded on respecting, understanding, and responding to patient narratives. Thus, these efforts will help shift healthcare practices that are entrenched in Western cultural assumptions about women and agency.
In particular, the norms and practices prevalent in Islam, as they apply to healthcare, are little explored in the West. There are specific, common processes in the patient-physician encounter that often leave Muslim women feeling uncomfortable and vulnerable. Muslim women are guided by the dictates and norms of their religious practices. Widespread clinical practices Muslim women face include inter-gender interactions that concern dress code and physical contact with opposite sex. A common Islamic tradition claims that when a man and woman are alone, a third person is also present—Satan. Even shaking hands with the opposite sex is prohibited in Islam.
Considering these religious and normative concerns, it is extremely difficult for practicing Muslim women to comfortably and faithfully engaged in Western medical practices. Western culture generally, and healthcare specifically, doesn’t yet understand the need and importance to accommodate common Islamic practices. These concerns are particularly prevalent in instances of examining and diagnosing pain, where physical contact is often required. A Muslim woman generally becomes uncomfortable when she is asked to expose her body in order to be physically examined, or even to be alone with a member of the opposite sex.
To develop a culturally competent health care, practices and norms must be revised in response to the needs and expectations of Muslim women. This paper addresses the normative and faith-oriented challenges the Muslim Women face in Western healthcare settings. It also recommended some practical solutions to protect Muslim women’s rights and dignity through the lens of Narrative Authority.
Narrative Authority is an approach which helps individuals to see and be-with one another through the shared power of their stories. The solutions proposed through the lens of Narrative Authority are intended to create practices to overcome or mitigate the embarrassing or uncomfortable healthcare situations in which Muslim women often find themselves. Narrative Authority can help build an effective healthcare system which is founded on respecting, understanding, and responding to patient narratives. Thus, these efforts will help shift healthcare practices that are entrenched in Western cultural assumptions about women and agency.