Cultural Patterns of Health Care Beliefs and Practices among Muslim Women in Uzbekistan

The purpose of this ethnographic study is to describe and analyse the meanings and uses of health promotion practices and beliefs, healing practices and folk medicine for Uzbek Muslim women. Contemporary healing practices can be seen as combining shamanic and Islamic concepts about disease and healing, Sufi Research focus. The research questions ask how participants make decisions to seek remedies through healing practices, and how and whether they experience these choices and actions as empowering. The research also asks about what sorts of conditions women seeks to address through traditional healing practices; those in this study discussed seeking out such healing for colds, bronchitis, heart disease, arthritis, as well as emotional and economic distress. Significance. With the increasing migration of Uzbeks to Canada, strength-based health care provision approach based on person-centred care, empowerment, health promotion and prevention and collaborative partnership is crucial in achieving quality of care.