Cultural Encounter In Health Care

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Pages: 5

A cultural encounter allows the healthcare worker to engage with people from culturally diverse backgrounds. The healthcare work must actively participate with different traditions, whilst aiming to enhance their knowledge and understanding of that culture (Camphina-Bacote, 2003). Patients’ from different cultures will have different methods and customs regarding their activities of daily living. This paper will discuss death and dying in regard to the religion of Islam. For the purpose of obtaining information, a Muslim medical student was interviewed. Traditions associated with the care of the dying patient, actual death, and palliative care challenges were discussed. The care of dying patients and their family is one of the most challenging …show more content…
The Shariah (Islamic Law) sets out expected actions at death and these are usually followed by Muslim patients (Sheikh, 1998). Islam is Ireland’s fastest growing religion, there were 49,204 Muslims living in Ireland in 2011, and this figure is estimated to reach 100,000 by 2020 (Central Statistics Office, 2012). Given these figures, it is imperative that healthcare workers are informed on the customs surrounding death and dying in relation to Muslim patients.
During this cultural encounter, the importance of gaining a thorough understanding of Muslim culture was evident (Lo and Stacey, 2008). Muslims see illness as penance for their sins, but are encouraged to obtain medical attention when required (Mughees, 2006). To help with future practice Javaid (2015), spoke about customs surrounding death and dying. Muslims prefer to be in the comfort of their