Knowledge of Predatory Practices within the Substance Use Disorder Treatment Industry: Development of a Measurement Instrument

The increase in predatory practices in the substance use disorder treatment industry calls for the development of measures to assess individuals’ knowledge about these practices. Methods: This study describes the development of the Knowledge of Predatory Practices Scale (KPPS), a newly developed measure designed to assess the knowledge of predatory practices within the substance use disorder treatment industry. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to determine the factor structure of this measure. Results: The final 11-item KPPS consisted of two factors—knowledge about general predatory practices (9 items) and knowledge about unethical practices (2 items). Overall, these factors explained 61.75% of the total variance. The Cronbach’s alpha for the KPPS was 0.81. Conclusions: The KPPS is a reliable measure of knowledge of predatory practices within the substance use disorder treatment industry and can be used as a measurement tool to educate individuals seeking help for their loved ones who are misusing substances.

Perceptions and Experiences of Marriage Preparation Among U.S. Muslims: Multiple Voices from the Community

Although Muslims in the United States are a growing population, there is limited research on their relational patterns and how they prepare for marriage. We conducted in-depth interviews with 32 members of the Muslim community in Southeast Michigan including married individuals, divorced individuals, therapists, and imams (Muslim religious leaders) to explore their perceptions and experiences of marriage preparation. Our analysis revealed that marriage preparation varies but is less likely to involve a requirement of premarital counseling, with imams being the primary providers, not therapists. Barriers to participation include stigma, lack of awareness, logistical and financial challenges, and parental influence. Partnerships between imams and therapists, and family and community efforts are necessary to address barriers and increase participation in premarital education programs.

Patient Perspectives on Language Discordance During Healthcare Visits: Findings From the Extremely High-Density Multicultural State of Qatar

Reducing language and cultural barriers in healthcare are significant factors in resolving health disparities. Qatar's rapidly growing multicultural population presents new challenges to the healthcare system. The purpose of this research was to explore patients' perspectives about language discordance, and the strategies used to overcome language barriers during patients' visits. Participants were recruited and interviewed from four language groups (Arabic = 24, English = 20, Hindi = 20, and Urdu = 20), all of whom were living in Qatar and utilizing Hamad General Hospital-Outpatient Clinics as a source of their healthcare services. Using qualitative analysis procedures, relevant themes and codes were generated and data analyzed using Atlas-ti. As for results, most participants had experienced or witnessed language barriers during their outpatient clinics visits. Participants essentially were unfamiliar with professional medical interpreters and described their adaptive solutions, for example utilizing incidental interpreters, stringing together fragments of multiple languages, and using body language. Those not speaking mainstream languages of Hamad General Hospital (English and Arabic) were more vulnerable to health disparities due to language barriers. Despite the patient impetus to do something, patient-reported adaptive strategies could compromise patients' safety and access to quality healthcare. Polices tackling the language barrier need to be reviewed in Qatar's multicultural healthcare system and similar settings.

Patient responses to research recruitment and follow-up surveys: findings from a diverse multicultural health care setting in Qatar

BACKGROUND

Health care researchers working in the Arabian Gulf need information on how to optimize recruitment and retention of study participants in extremely culturally diverse settings. Implemented in Doha, Qatar in 2012 with 4 language groups, namely Arabic, English, Hindi, and Urdu, this research documents persons' responses to recruitment, consent, follow-up, and reminder procedures during psychometric testing of the Multicultural Assessment Instrument (MAI), a novel self- or interviewer-administered survey.

METHODS

Bilingual research assistants recruited adults in outpatient clinics by approaching persons in particular who appeared to be from a target language group. Participants completed the MAI, a second acculturation instrument used for content-validity assessment, and a demographics questionnaire. Participants were asked to take the MAI again in 2-3 weeks, in person or by post, to assess test-retest reliability. Recruitment data were analyzed by using nonparametric statistics.

RESULTS

Of 1503 persons approached during recruitment, 400 enrolled (27%)-100 per language group. The enrollment rates in the language groups were: Arabic-32%; English-33%; Hindi-18%; Urdu-30%. The groups varied somewhat in their preferences regarding consent procedure, follow-up survey administration, contact mode for follow-up reminders, and disclosure of personal mailing address (for postal follow-up). Over all, telephone was the preferred medium for follow-up reminders. Of 64 persons who accepted a research assistant's invitation for in-person follow-up, 40 participants completed the interview (follow-up rate, 63%); among 126 persons in the postal group with a deliverable address, 29 participants mailed back a completed follow-up survey (response rate, 23%).

CONCLUSIONS

Researchers in the Arabian Gulf face challenges to successfully identify, enroll, and retain eligible study participants. Although bilingual assistants-often from the persons' own culture-recruited face-to-face, and our questionnaire contained no health care-related content, many persons were reluctant to participate. This occurrence was observed especially at follow-up, particularly among participants who had agreed to follow-up by post.

Using CBPR for Health Research in American Muslim Mosque Communities

BACKGROUND

American Muslims are understudied in health research, and there are few studies documenting community-based participatory research (CBPR) efforts among American Muslim mosque communities.

OBJECTIVES

We highlight lessons learned from a CBPR partnership that explored the health care beliefs, behaviors, and challenges of American Muslims.

METHODS

We established a collaboration between the University of Michigan and four Muslim-focused community organizations in Michigan. Our collaborative team designed and implemented a two-phase study involving interviews with community stakeholders and focus groups and surveys with mosque congregants.

LESSONS LEARNED

Although we were successful in meeting our research goals, maintaining community partner involvement and sustaining the project partnership proved challenging.

CONCLUSIONS

CBPR initiatives within mosque communities have the potential for improving community health. Our experience suggests that successful research partnerships with American Muslims will utilize social networks and cultural insiders, culturally adapt research methods, and develop a research platform within the organizational infrastructures of the American Muslim community.

Perceptions of obstetrical interventions and female genital cutting: insights of men in a Somali refugee community

OBJECTIVES

Somali women are at increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Anxiety and perceived stigmatization toward female genital cutting (FGC) further fuels an atmosphere of miscommunication and distrust, contributing to poorer health outcomes. While the attitudes and experiences of Somali refugee women toward healthcare are widely known, the views of Somali refugee men are largely unknown. This study examines the perspectives of Somali men toward FGC and women's childbirth experiences in one refugee community in the USA.

DESIGN

Community-based participatory research partnerships with key stakeholders within the Somali refugee community incorporated qualitative methods comprising semi-structured focus groups and individual interviews to elicit male participants' perspectives on FGC, experiences during childbirth, and the perception of increased cesarean deliveries among Somali women. Qualitative analyses involved a framework and team-based approach using grounded theory and conventional content analysis.

RESULTS

Acculturation influenced changes in traditional gender roles fostering new dynamics in shared decision-making within the household and during childbirth. Participants were aware of FGC-related morbidity, ongoing matriarchal support for FGC, and were generally not supportive of FGC. They perceived health-care providers as being unfamiliar with caring for women with FGC fueling profound aversion to cesarean deliveries, miscommunication, and distrust of the health-care system.

CONCLUSION

Our work yields new insights into Somali reproductive healthcare through Somali men, namely: strong matriarchal support of FGC, discomfort in men's presence during delivery, and a strong aversion to cesarean delivery. Our findings support the need for advocacy to engage Somali women, their partners/spouses, and health-care providers in facilitating greater continuity of care, building greater trust as men become engaged throughout the spectrum of care in the decision-making process while respecting traditional norms. Cultural health navigators should bridge communication and support between providers and patients. Our work provides foundational knowledge to inform culturally appropriate health interventions within a Somali refugee community.

Procedures of recruiting, obtaining informed consent, and compensating research participants in Qatar: findings from a qualitative investigation

BACKGROUND

Very few researchers have reported on procedures of recruiting, obtaining informed consent, and compensating participants in health research in the Arabian Gulf Region. Empirical research can inform the debate about whether to adjust these procedures for culturally diverse settings. Our objective was to delineate procedures related to recruiting, obtaining informed consent, and compensating health research participants in the extremely high-density multicultural setting of Qatar.

METHODS

During a multistage mixed methods project, field observations and qualitative interviews were conducted in a general medicine clinic of a major medical center in Qatar. Participants were chosen based on gender, age, literacy, and preferred language, i.e., Arabic, English, Hindi and Urdu. Qualitative analysis identified themes about recruitment, informed consent, compensation, and other research procedures.

RESULTS

A total of 153 individuals were approached and 84 enrolled; the latter showed a diverse age range (18 to 75 years); varied language representation: Arabic (n = 24), English (n = 20), Hindi (n = 20), and Urdu (n = 20); and balanced gender distribution: women (n = 43) and men (n = 41). Primary reasons for 30 declinations included concern about interview length and recording. The study achieved a 74% participation rate. Qualitative analytics revealed key themes about hesitation to participate, decisions about participation with family members as well as discussions with them as "incidental research participants", the informed consent process, privacy and gender rules of the interview environment, reactions to member checking and compensation, and motivation for participating. Vulnerability emerged as a recurring issue throughout the process among a minority of participants.

CONCLUSIONS

This study from Qatar is the first to provide empirical data on recruitment, informed consent, compensation and other research procedures in a general adult population in the Middle East and Arabian Gulf. This investigation illustrates how potential research participants perceive research participation. Fundamentally, Western ethical research principles were applicable, but required flexibility and culturally informed adaptations.

Challenges and opportunities of US and Arab collaborations in health services research: a case study from Qatar

Economic globalization and advances in technology have made it more feasible and even necessary to develop international research collaborations in global public health. Historically, collaborations in global research described in the literature have been mostly “North-South” collaborations in which the more developed “North” country works together with a developing “South” country to conduct research in the latter. This type of collaboration has for the most part, represented unequal partnership and rarely left behind a lasting impact. Recently, the opportunity for a new kind of international research partnership has emerged in which the host country has significant financial resources, but relatively limited expertise in research methodology or techniques and research implementation. This type of collaboration features a relative equalization of power between the international partners. The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of building a successful research collaboration between a team in the United States and a team in Qatar, a rich Arabic nation in Gulf. We present a case study that provides an overview of our own project focused on the development of a culturally and linguistically adapted health care quality instrument for Qatar, discussing many of the benefits and challenges we encountered during each phase of instrument development. We present recommendations for researchers seeking sustainable and equitable partnerships with the Arab World.

American Muslim perceptions of healing: key agents in healing, and their roles

American Muslims represent a growing and diverse community. Efforts at promoting cultural competence, enhancing cross-cultural communication skills, and improving community health must account for the religio-cultural frame through which American Muslims view healing. Using a community-based participatory research model, we conducted 13 focus groups at area mosques in southeast Michigan to explore American Muslim views on healing and to identify the primary agents, and their roles, within the healing process. Participants shared a God-centric view of healing. Healing was accessed through direct means such as supplication and recitation of the Qur'an, or indirectly through human agents including imams, health care practitioners, family, friends, and community. Human agents served integral roles, influencing spiritual, psychological, and physical health. Additional research into how religiosity, health care systems, and community factors influence health-care-seeking behaviors is warranted.

Religious values and healthcare accommodations: voices from the American Muslim community

BACKGROUND

Minority populations receive a lower quality healthcare in part due to the inadequate assessment of, and cultural adaptations to meet, their culturally informed healthcare needs. The seven million American Muslims, while ethnically and racially diverse, share religiously informed healthcare values that influence their expectations of healthcare. There is limited empirical research on this community's preferences for cultural modifications in healthcare delivery.

OBJECTIVE

Identify healthcare accommodations requested by American Muslims.

METHODS

Using community-based participatory research (CBPR) methods, we partnered with four community organizations in the Greater Detroit area to design and conduct thirteen focus groups at area mosques serving African American, Arab American, and South Asian American Muslims. Qualitative content analysis utilized a framework team-based approach.

KEY RESULTS

Participants reported stigmatization within the healthcare system and voiced the need for culturally competent healthcare providers. In addition, they identified three key healthcare accommodations to address Muslim sensitivities: the provision of (1) gender-concordant care, (2) halal food and (3) a neutral prayer space. Gender concordance was requested based on Islamic conceptions of modesty and privacy. Halal food was deemed to be health-promoting and therefore integral to the healing process. Lastly, a neutral prayer space was requested to ensure security and privacy during worship.

CONCLUSIONS

This study informs efforts to deliver high-quality healthcare to American Muslims in several ways. We note three specific healthcare accommodations requested by this community and the religious values underlying these requests. Healthcare systems can further cultural sensitivity, engender trust, and improve the healthcare experiences of American Muslims by understanding and then attempting to accommodate these values as much as possible.

The role of imams in American Muslim health: perspectives of Muslim community leaders in Southeast Michigan

American Muslims are a diverse and growing population, numbering nearly 200,000 in Southeast Michigan. Little empirical work exists on the influence of Islam upon the healthcare behaviors of American Muslims, and there is to date limited research on the roles that imams, Muslim religious leaders, play in the health of this community. Utilizing a community-based participatory research (CBPR) model through collaboration with four key community organizations, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 community leaders and explored their perceptions about the roles imams play in community health. Respondents identified four central roles for imams in healthcare: (1) encouraging healthy behaviors through scripture-based messages in sermons; (2) performing religious rituals around life events and illnesses; (3) advocating for Muslim patients and delivering cultural sensitivity training in hospitals; and (4) assisting in healthcare decisions for Muslims. Our analysis also suggests several challenges for imams stemming from medical uncertainty and ethical conflicts. Imams play key roles in framing concepts of health and disease and encouraging healthy lifestyles outside of the healthcare system, as well as advocating for Muslim patient needs and aiding in healthcare decisions within the hospital. Healthcare partnerships with these religious leaders and their institutions may be an important means to enhance the health of American Muslims.