Muslim Healthcare Social Support

Healthcare Disparities

The author of this report has been asked to select and describe a certain healthcare population that resides within the United States. The author will speak to the support systems that may or may not exist for that population and how any lack thereof could lead to healthcare disparities and negative outcomes for that group. However, the author of this report will first generally explain how social support can contribute to positive healthcare outcomes in a population and how social exclusion of any sort could lead to the opposite. While people of most religions and racial/ethnic groups in the United States have good and strong support systems that assist in the improvement and upholding of good healthcare outcomes, there are some populations that are under-served and some specific racial/ethnic groups that have the proverbial deck stacked against them.

Summary

Generally speaking, groups that have broad social presence and support will fare better from a healthcare standpoint than those groups that do not. For example, Christians in generally will tend to fare better than religious groups that are in the minority like Buddhists, atheists and so forth because there are far more medical organizations, charities and community groups that are Christian-oriented or -- operated. There are also non-religious groups that will nonetheless acclimate and cater to those with a religious preference and Christianity would obviously be one of the more commonly known and understood patterns to follow. Similarly, white people with European backgrounds/ancestry are by far the dominant race/ethnic group in the United States. As such, places that are ran and staffed by people of that ilk will be much more common than those of minority races or cultures like Hispanic, Black or so forth. Because of the common presence of these dominant cultures, peoples in those groups (racial or religious) will find much more ease in finding healthcare professionals and locations than people that are of a racial/ethnic minority, that speak a different language or that are of a different religion (Deeling, 1996).

One might think that healthcare disparities would be limited to those with language or religious issues but class and socioeconomic status would certainly be a factor as well. For example, someone that has less disposable income (if they have an income at all) will be less likely to seek healthcare (especially elective/preventative healthcare) if they have very little funds for everyday expenses like food and shelter, let alone healthcare. This is not to say that healthcare is not important because it most certainly is. However, many people eschew needed or recommended healthcare due to lack of insurance and/or money. This happenstance is much more likely to happen with minorities such as Hispanics and Blacks because they are much more likely to be in the lower socioeconomic classes. As such, there are obvious and clearly healthcare disparities for those groups. They are known now and there are efforts being made to close those gaps. However, they certainly still exist (AHRQ, 2015).

The group of people that the author of this report chooses to focus on would be Muslims in the United States. While Muslims number roughly a billion worldwide, they are still a relative minority in the United States. Also, their vulnerability to healthcare disparities can actually run two-fold. First, there is a religious concern. While many tenets are shared between Islam and Christianity or Judaism, there are also some stark differences. Many believers in Islam insist and prefer that all facets of their life be ran and operated under what is known as sharia law. Of course, the ubiquity of people knowledgeable about that in the United States is fairly small. An "average" healthcare provider will know little to nothing. The other concern that can come up with Muslims is that many of them are recent immigrants and/or for whatever reason do not speak English. Many of them speak Arabic or whatever their original native tongue happened to have been. While there are many healthcare outlets that cater to Spanish speakers, people that speak other languages (especially those from the Middle East) can struggle to find a healthcare provider that speaks their language. However, the news is not all bleak for Muslims. Indeed, there are many doctors that are coming over from countries such as Lebanon and that establish a practice here in the United States and they often speak Arabic fluently. However, people in smaller cities or in areas that are not ethnically diverse from a healthcare professional or population standpoint may leave many Muslims wanting. They may seek out social support from other Muslims but there may not be many in the area in question (UC Hospitals, 2015).