Clarifying the place of religious concepts and practices in formulating and delivering personalised mental health care for depression in the UK Muslim population

Thesis

Research question: How might religious concepts and practices contribute to personalised mental health care for depression in the UK Muslim population?

This study begins by exploring the population data and literature context, before embarking upon three exercises. First, a conceptual objective requiring comparative analysis between Islamic theology with psychotherapeutic interventions approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Guideline for depression in adults (NG 222). Deductive Content Analysis (DCA) method is utilised to identify ten contact points between Islamic and psychotherapeutic concepts, across two categories: goal setting, awareness of thoughts, recognising emotions, mindfulness practices, bodily awareness (forming the self-knowledge group); together with optimism and hope, motivation and agency, gratitude, relationships, and behaviour patterns (classified in the resilience group). These ten concepts are applied to five well-established Islamic practices of Qurʾānic recitation, daily prayer, fasting, mindfulness, and psalms.

Second, the empirical objective is to understand the views and experiences of service users and therapists on the viability of the above comparative framework in practice, together with broader insights into their treatment for depression in the Muslim community. Data collection was undertaken through 30 semi-structured interviews across both cohorts and analysed using Framework Analysis methods.

Third, the practice objective seeks symbiosis between the findings of the first two sections, to gain insights into the acceptability and viability of faith-based adaptations to NICE approved psychotherapies, while also considering whether such adaptations are practicable in a health care delivery context, focussing on obtaining practical coherence with person-centred mental care, while countering stigma and maximising the efficacy of existing resources. This process identified opportunities to empower therapists with training materials and seeking regulatory clarification on how to raise the subject of religion in therapy. In addition, a framework for Faith-Informed Therapy (FIT) was identified that can provide a vehicle for delivering a practitioner’s chosen intervention from the NICE Guideline in a way that harnesses the religious commitments and perspectives of Muslims.

Authors: Lakha, G

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-2rzxk4yry
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: depression; NICE Guideline for Depression; UK Muslim population; cultural competence; personalised mental health; psychology of religion; faith-informed therapy; psychotherapy
• Subjects: Personalised Mental Health; Psychology of Religion