BACKGROUND: By starting to understand Muslim culture, we can seek common ground with Islamic culture within the American experience and bridge opportunities for better palliative and hospice care here and in Middle Eastern countries. The United States, Canada, and Europe are education hubs for Middle Eastern students, creating an opportunity for the palliative and hospice care philosophy to gain access by proxy to populations of terminally ill patients who can benefit from end-of-life care. OBJECTIVE: The aim was to assess the state of research and knowledge about palliative and hospice care within the context of Muslim culture and religion. RESULTS: Within the guide of the key search terms, we learned that at a glance, over 100 articles meet the search criteria, but after a closer inspection, only a portion actually contributed knowledge to the literature. This confirmed the need for research in this vein. More importantly, we posit that once the layers of culture, religion, norms, and nationality are removed, human beings share a kinship based on family, spirituality, death and dying, and fear of pain. This is evident when we compare the Middle Eastern end-of-life experience with the western end-of-life care. CONCLUSIONS: A true opportunity to make a lasting impact at the patient level exists for palliative and hospice care researchers if we seek to understand, gain knowledge, and respect Muslim culture and Islamic issues at the end of life.
BACKGROUND: By starting to understand Muslim culture, we can seek common ground with Islamic culture within the American experience and bridge opportunities for better palliative and hospice care here and in Middle Eastern countries. The United States, Canada, and Europe are education hubs for Middle Eastern students, creating an opportunity for the palliative and hospice care philosophy to gain access by proxy to populations of terminally ill patients who can benefit from end-of-life care. OBJECTIVE: The aim was to assess the state of research and knowledge about palliative and hospice care within the context of Muslim culture and religion. RESULTS: Within the guide of the key search terms, we learned that at a glance, over 100 articles meet the search criteria, but after a closer inspection, only a portion actually contributed knowledge to the literature. This confirmed the need for research in this vein. More importantly, we posit that once the layers of culture, religion, norms, and nationality are removed, human beings share a kinship based on family, spirituality, death and dying, and fear of pain. This is evident when we compare the Middle Eastern end-of-life experience with the western end-of-life care. CONCLUSIONS: A true opportunity to make a lasting impact at the patient level exists for palliative and hospice care researchers if we seek to understand, gain knowledge, and respect Muslim culture and Islamic issues at the end of life.
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Keywords:
family caregivers; hospice care in Islam; palliative care in Islam; religion