Study Launched on Improving Care for Muslim and Sikh Terminal Patients

June 27, 2005

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4627509.stm

On June 27, 2005 BBC News reported, "A study has been launched to improve the care of terminally ill Sikh and Muslim patients. With funding from the Chief Scientist Office, Professor Aziz Sheikh of Edinburgh University will ask patients and carers about end of life needs. He says palliative care services are focused on the elderly dying from cancer - yet migrants to Britain often die younger and from other diseases. A person's beliefs 'must be understood if they are to die with dignity.' He said: 'No effective national provisions are in place for training of healthcare professionals in transcultural medicine, and few professionals will therefore have real opportunity to learn about death rites in different cultures. The importance of these and other rites of passage need to be understood by caregivers.'"