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Religious Minorities and Medicine: The Collision of Health Care and Faith

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Stigma and Prejudice

Part of the book series: Current Clinical Psychiatry ((CCPSY))

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Abstract

Most of the research about prevention, diagnosis, and treatment disparities in minority patients in the medical literature focuses only on ethnic minority populations. This chapter will provide a description of religious minorities in the United States and the way in which their religious identification can impact the care that they receive in the medical system. For practitioners, researchers, and educators, particularly in major metropolitan areas, faith or religion-based values may present challenges to the way health care is typically delivered. Religious minority patients may have differences in terms of their dress, diet, or gender interactions, or the way in which they view reproduction and fertility, or may have a different view of end of life care. Their views could interfere with standard medical care.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, New York state Psychiatric institute, New York, NY, USA

    Shirin N. Ali MD

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  1. Shirin N. Ali MD
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Correspondence to Shirin N. Ali MD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Ranna Parekh

  2. Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Ed W. Childs

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Ali, S.N. (2016). Religious Minorities and Medicine: The Collision of Health Care and Faith. In: Parekh, R., Childs, E. (eds) Stigma and Prejudice. Current Clinical Psychiatry. Humana Press, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27580-2_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27580-2_3

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-27578-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-27580-2

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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