07/09/2025
By Ivy Ho
Degree: Doctoral
Defense Date: Wednesday, July 23, 2025
Time: 10 a.m. - noon EST
Location: Zoom link
Dissertation Title: A Mixed Method Study to Examine Healthcare Utilization and Health Outcomes of Muslims Living in the United States
Committee:
Ivy Ho, Ph.D. (advisor), Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Minjeong Kim, Ph.D. School of Education, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Jason Lawrence, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Yan Wang, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Brief Abstract:
Muslims in the United States encounter unique challenges in the healthcare system, marked by lower healthcare utilization, reduced rates of cancer screening, and heightened instances of discrimination in medical settings. Despite having intersecting identities that make it challenging to navigate healthcare, their healthcare experiences remain largely unexplored. The purpose of this study was to understand the healthcare experiences of Muslims, guided by MusCrit, a subset of Critical Race Theory. This dissertation employed a mixed-methods approach (i.e., reflexive thematic analysis, structural equation modeling, and latent profile analysis) to explore the healthcare utilization and health outcomes of Muslims living in the United States. The first study examined the associations among medical discrimination, patient-centered communication, medical mistrust, and healthcare utilization, as well as the mediating role of patient-centered communication and medical mistrust in the relationship between medical discrimination and healthcare utilization. The second study aimed to (a) identify latent subgroups of Muslim Americans based on their experiences of everyday discrimination, (b) understand how individual characteristics predict profile membership (i.e., age, gender, immigration status, wearing hijab), and (c) determine whether profile membership is associated with differences in health-related quality of life, particularly physical outcomes. In Study 3, a subset of Muslim women who participated in the quantitative study and endorsed at least one of the items on the measure of medical discrimination as ‘most of the time’ and/or ‘always’ and/or ‘sometimes’ were invited to participate in virtual interviews. Interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview guide that asked about participants’ healthcare experiences, including their emotions, thoughts, and coping behaviors in response to a negative interaction with a provider. The data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Given the lack of research on Muslims and specifically Muslim American women’s healthcare experiences, this study is a novel exploration that will shed light on this critical issue.