| Description |
Iraqi Muslim women encounter many barriers to receiving patient-centered care in the U.S. health system. When expectations between the patient and provider differ and a disconnect or misunderstanding occurs, Iraqi women can be at risk for unintended poor quality care. Health providers have incentives to implement patient-centered care and yet face multiple challenges in doing so when patients' values, religion, culture, gender and language are different from their own. This study aimed to identify sources of misunderstanding (referred to as disconnects) between health provider and Iraqi Muslim female patients as a means of informing providers about possible accommodations when caring for this population. To achieve this aim, a secondary analysis was conducted using 15 Iraqi Muslim female patient interviews from a previous qualitative research study that explored the perspectives and experiences of the women in the primary health care encounter. The six dimensions of patient-centered care provided a means of structural coding to identify disconnects and describe examples of what Iraqi Muslim women may be expecting in the healthcare visit. Resulting themes revealed sources of disconnects between provider and patient that are embedded in the health system and interpersonal aspects of the health encounter. Sources of disconnection between provider and patient presented as barriers to achieving patient-centered care included communication, discordant expectations and lack of cultural knowledge of the other. The findings suggest that a provider who accommodates a patient based on cultural knowledge and empathy may potentially see better patient outcomes through improved patient understanding and participation in care. Health providers who are aware of a patient's expectations and cultural norms have the knowledge to tailor patient-centered care dimensions to individual patients and potentially decrease health disparities. |
