Arab Americans in the United States: Immigration, Culture and Health (International Perspectives on Migration)

This open access book provides a unique perspective on the relationship between immigration, culture, and health. It presents a cross-cultural perspective between culture and illness. It touches upon identity struggles, the notion of not feeling “safe, understood, accepted,” and its relation to Arab American health. The book provides a comprehensive review of the history of Muslims in America and discusses better healthcare services for chronic illness―diabetes. It provides an ethnographic framework for building cultural belief models of illness, which helps study any illness among any population. It is a must-read for everyone interested in understanding the relationship among culture, health, and immigration, as well as the importance of building cultural belief models of illness and their possible impact on providing better healthcare services. The book is of interest to scholars, caregivers, and those living with diabetes. Acknowledgments Contents About the Author 1 Introduction 1.1 The Relationship Between Culture and Health References 2 Diabetes in Cross-Cultural Perspective 2.1 Causes of Diabetes Across Cultures 2.1.1 Genetics as a Cause of Diabetes 2.1.2 Diet, Obesity, and Lack of Physical Activity as Causes of Diabetes 2.1.3 Susto/Fright, Stress, and Depression as Causes of Diabetes 2.2 Symptoms of Diabetes Across Cultures 2.3 Treatment of Diabetes Across Cultures 2.4 Diabetes Management Across Cultures References 3 History and Culture of Muslims in America 3.1 African American Muslim History 3.2 Arab American and South Asian American Muslim History 3.3 “Native” African American Muslims Versus Immigrant American Muslims 3.4 The Significance of Mosques in American Muslims’ Lives 3.5 Muslim Americans’ Culture and Identity 3.5.1 American Muslims’ Family and Marriage 3.5.2 Living Everyday Life as American Muslim Women, and Men References 4 Research Setting and Design 4.1 Research Setting 4.2 Research Design and Methods 4.2.1 Stage One of Data Collection 4.2.2 First Stage Sampling 4.2.3 Stage Two of Data Collection 4.2.4 Second Stage Sampling References 5 Arab Americans’ Cultural Beliefs of Diabetes 5.1 Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments of Diabetes 5.1.1 Causes of Diabetes 5.1.2 Symptoms of Diabetes 5.1.3 Treatments of Diabetes 5.2 Who is at Risk of Diabetes? 5.3 Fear of Having Diabetes 5.4 Severity of Diabetes 5.5 Fasting in Ramadan 5.6 Family Role in Diabetes Care 5.7 Diabetes Health-Seeking Behaviors: When is It Way Too Much? 5.8 Diabetes Healthcare Access: Arab American Doctors’ Availability References 6 Diabetes and Cultural Consensus 6.1 Cultural Consensus Results 6.2 Testing Variation Using 2nd-Factor Loading 6.3 Cultural Consensus Analysis Based on Generation and Age References 7 What is Next? 7.1 Culturally Competent Healthcare System 7.2 Cultural Competence Techniques in Healthcare System 7.3 How Can This Study Help? References 8 Discussion and Conclusion References Appendix A: Stage One Data Collection Interview Guide Appendix B: Cultural Consensus Survey Appendix C: Cultural Consensus Survey in Arabic Appendix D: Diabetes Cultural Consensus Survey Categories