"Between Wings of Hope and Fear": Muslim Parents' Experiences with the American Health Care System
qualitative; barrier; health; transcription; pediatrics; communication; human; article; child; female; male; interview; fear; population; sample; patients; research; evaluation; care; clinical; genetic; person; analysis; size; system; content; semi; structured; United; marginalized; married; Muslim; States; thematic; wing
Background and Objectives: Historically marginalized religious and cultural groups are at risk for lower quality of care than majority groups. No study to date specifically queries Muslim experiences with the American health care system (AHCS). We performed a thematic analysis of Muslim parents' interactions with the AHCS and how their background informs their approach to care. Method(s): This was a qualitative study of Muslim parents of children with life-limiting conditions in the Research Triangle Area from December 2019 to March 2019. We conducted semistructured interviews with parents to assess their experiences with the AHCS. We probed interview transcripts using descriptive content analysis with NVivo10. Result(s): We interviewed 10 parents in the Research Triangle Area. All patients were female, most were married, most spoke at least one other language in addition to English, and most were not born in the United States. Several themes emerged highlighting open communication with care teams, willingness to share religious affiliations, and the importance of leaning into faith and accepting God's will. Conclusion(s): A thematic analysis of Muslim parents' interactions with the AHCS describes value in honest communication, mixed concerns about how providers will react to their religious affiliation, and emphasizes the importance of leaning heavily into faith and accepting God's plan. Future studies evaluating needs of Muslim patients, especially those with different diagnoses, language barriers, and a larger sample size will further delineate needs to minimize inequalities in care.
Kolmar A; Kamal AH; Steinhauser KE
Journal of Palliative Medicine
2022
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2022.0154">10.1089/jpm.2022.0154</a>
How doctors manage conflicts with families of critically ill patients during conversations about end-of-life decisions in neonatal, pediatric, and adult intensive care
child; human; female; male; article; adult; newborn; responsibility; conversation; family; morality; uncertainty; emotion; conflict; conflict; health; research; literacy; management; patient; clinical; genetic; qualitative; care; ill; intensive; unit; decision; making; clinical; critically; intensive; transcription
Purpose Intensive care is a stressful environment in which team-family conflicts commonly occur. If managed poorly, conflicts can have negative effects on all parties involved. Previous studies mainly investigated these conflicts and their management in a retrospective way. This study aimed to prospectively explore team-family conflicts, including its main topics, complicating factors, doctors’ conflict management strategies and the effect of these strategies. Methods Conversations between doctors in the neonatal, pediatric, and adult intensive care unit of a large university-based hospital and families of critically ill patients were audio-recorded from the moment doubts arose whether treatment was still in patients’ best interest. Transcripts were coded and analyzed using a qualitative deductive approach. Results Team-family conflicts occurred in 29 out of 101 conversations (29%) concerning 20 out of 36 patients (56%). Conflicts mostly concerned more than one topic. We identified four complicating context- and/or family-related factors: diagnostic and prognostic uncertainty, families’ strong negative emotions, limited health literacy, and burden of responsibility. Doctors used four overarching strategies to manage conflicts, namely content-oriented, process-oriented, moral and empathic strategies. Doctors mostly used content-oriented strategies, independent of the intensive care setting. They were able to effectively address conflicts in most conversations. Yet, if they did not acknowledge families’ cues indicating the existence of one or more complicating factors, conflicts were likely to linger on during the conversation. Conclusion This study underlines the importance of doctors tailoring their communication strategies to the concrete conflict topic(s) and to the context- and family-related factors which complicate a specific conflict.
Spijkers A S; Akkermans A; Smets EMA; Schultz MJ; Cherpanath TGV; van Woensel JBM; van Heerde M; van Kaam AH; van de Loo M; Willems DL; de Vos MA
Intensive Care Medicine
2022
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-022-06771-5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1007/s00134-022-06771-5</a>
Immune cell-derived beta-endorphin. Production, release, and control of inflammatory pain in rats
Humans; Male; Time Factors; Analysis of Variance; Animals; Regression Analysis; Rats; Biomarkers of Pain; RNA; Genetic; Biomarkers Reference List; Inflammation/physiopathology; Freund's Adjuvant; Hindlimb; Pain/immunology/physiopathology; Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone/pharmacology; Wistar; Messenger/biosynthesis; beta-Endorphin/biosynthesis; Interleukin-1/pharmacology; Lymph Nodes/metabolism; Pro-Opiomelanocortin/biosynthesis; T-Lymphocytes/drug effects/immunology/metabolism; Transcription
Localized inflammation of a rat's hindpaw elicits an accumulation of beta-endorphin-(END) containing immune cells. We investigated the production, release, and antinociceptive effects of lymphocyte-derived END in relation to cell trafficking. In normal animals, END and proopiomelanocortin mRNA were less abundant in circulating lymphocytes than in those residing in lymph nodes (LN), suggesting that a finite cell population produces END and homes to LN. Inflammation increased proopiomelanocortin mRNA in cells from noninflamed and inflamed LN. However, END content was increased only in inflamed paw tissue and noninflamed LN-immune cells. Accordingly, corticotropin-releasing factor and IL-1beta released significantly more END from noninflamed than from inflamed LN-immune cells. This secretion was receptor specific, calcium dependent, and mimicked by potassium, consistent with vesicular release. Finally, both agents, injected into the inflamed paw, induced analgesia which was blocked by the co-administration of antiserum against END. Together, these findings suggest that END-producing lymphocytes home to inflamed tissue where they secrete END to reduce pain. Afterwards they migrate to the regional LN, depleted of the peptide. Consistent with this notion, immunofluorescence studies of cell suspensions revealed that END is contained predominantly within memory-type T cells. Thus, the immune system is important for the control of inflammatory pain. This has implications for the understanding of pain in immunosuppressed conditions like cancer or AIDS.
1997
Cabot PJ; Carter L; Gaiddon C; Zhang Q; Schafer M; Loeffler JP; Stein C
The Journal Of Clinical Investigation
1997
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1172/jci119506" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1172/jci119506</a>