Poster 29: Tradisjonell medisin brukt blant pakistanske innvandrere i Norge

Various physical and mental health-related practices are common among the Pakistani community in Norway that are dependent upon their culture and religion. So, more research is essential in this area.

Background: Norway has experienced strong growth in immigration, and immigrants from Pakistan are one of the largest non-Western ethnic minority groups in Norway. Despite living in Norway for decades, they still report different health complaints and poorer health than ethnic Norwegians. In Pakistan, traditional and complementary health approaches are still an important source of health care. To effectively communicate and gain the trust of the patients regarding the health approaches they use, and why and when they use them, there is a need to increase healthcare providers’ knowledge about this topic in this patient group. This study aims to delineate the use of traditional and complementary health approaches by the younger and older Pakistani immigrants living in Oslo, Norway.

Methods: In-depth semi-structured interviews will be conducted with 10 first and 10 second-generation Pakistani immigrants living in Oslo. The interview guide was developed based on a literature search and 6 pilot interviews with 3 first-generation (1 male, 2 females) and 3 second-generation (1 male, 2 females) Pakistani immigrants were conducted, and the interview guide was adjusted accordingly. Participants will be recruited for this study via the Medical Unit at Lovisenberg Diaconal Hospital in Oslo, Norway, and also through snowball sampling. Interviews will be in Urdu, English, or Norwegian depending upon the interviewee’s choice. All the interviews will be recorded, transcribed, translated into English, and analyzed via NVivo by the content analysis method.

Preliminary Results based on the pilot testing of the interview guide (Full results will be available and presented at the conference): Analysis of the pilot interviews showed that various practices are common among Pakistanis to maintain good mental and physical health throughout their lives and to prevent and treat diseases. Both younger and older immigrants reported benefiting from walking, exercise, diet restrictions, multivitamins, and natural remedies. Among natural remedies, turmeric, black tea, cinnamon, warm water, salt water, ginger, and honey were the most used entities by all the interviewees. Various religious practices like prayer, fasting, Quran reading, and other Islamic practices were also used to maintain good mental health. Unlike younger immigrants, older immigrants prefer not to discuss these approaches when visiting conventional healthcare providers.

Conclusions: Despite the increasing relevance of transcultural healthcare issues in public health policies, knowledge is still lacking about Pakistani immigrants’ health practices in Norway. This study can help Norwegian healthcare providers understand Pakistanis' health choices, leading to shared decision-making and better patient outcomes.