title: Attitudes of Muslims Living in the United States Toward Long-Term Care Decisions and Diagnosis Disclosure for Elderly Family Members.
abstract: This study explored the attitudes of Muslims living in the United States toward long-term care decisions and diagnostic disclosure. Members of six mosques in New Jersey aged 40 and older agreed to participate in a telephone interview. Respondents were read medical scenarios and asked to indicate their preferences from a list of responses. Scenarios were: if they or a family member were disabled, who would they prefer to care for them; would they use a Muslim nursing home for themselves or loved one; who should be informed first if an individual had cancer or would die very soon (the individual or the individual's family); and whether these diagnoses should be disclosed to the individual's family without the individual's consent. If disabled, 62% (n = 103) of participants would prefer care at home, and 65.7% (n = 108) would prefer care at home for a disabled loved one. If there were a Muslim nursing home, 78.3% (n = 103) of participants would consider this facility for themselves and 76% (n = 127) would consider it for a loved one. Fifty-six percent (n = 93) of participants believed the individual should be informed first of a cancer diagnosis, and 54.6% (n = 89) believed the individual should be informed first if their death was imminent. Disclosing an individual's cancer diagnosis to family members without the individual's consent was acceptable to 49.7% (n = 83) and disclosing his or her imminent death was acceptable to 55.1% (n = 92). Participants were from 21 countries. Participants from Western countries were most likely to believe individuals should be informed first about their cancer diagnosis or imminent death.
authors: Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology, School of Osteopathic Medicine, Rowan University, Stratford, New Jersey. mclaugmh@rowan.edu.
authors: Matthew H
authors: MH
authors: McLaughlin
authors: Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology, School of Osteopathic Medicine, Rowan University, Stratford, New Jersey.
authors: Abdul
authors: A
authors: Elahi
authors: Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology, School of Osteopathic Medicine, Rowan University, Stratford, New Jersey.
authors: Janice
authors: J
authors: Ciesielski
authors: Department of Medicine, School of Osteopathic Medicine, Rowan University, Stratford, New Jersey.
authors: Sherry
authors: S
authors: Pomerantz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D016638:Critical Illness / Q000523:psychology*; D005190:Family / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007514:Islam / Q000523:psychology*; D008134:Long-Term Care / Q000941:ethics / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D057240:Patient Preference / Q000523:psychology*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D014342:Truth Disclosure / Q000941:ethics; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Muslim; family; long-term care; terminal diagnosis