Child Health and Islam Lessons for health promotion

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Child Health and Islam Lessons for health
promotion

• Nicola Ruck MSc DHEd
• Health Development Consultant, Bradford, UK

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Objectives of the presentation

• Students will have a greater
• awareness of
• the Islamic contribution to health promotion
• the importance of child care in Islam
• methods of health education and health promotion
  for Muslim communities

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History of health education and prevention of
illness
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Islamic concepts of prevention from the 12th
century

• Importance of personal hygiene
• Disease as an imbalance of natural processes
• Avoidance of alcohol and excess food
• Recognition of environmental pollution as a cause
  of disease

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Health promotion through Islamic Lifestyles
The Amman Declaration 1409/1989

• Produced by WHO EMRO and Islamic organisations to
  promote good health in Islamic communities.
• Key points
• responsibility of professionals for
  health education
• Islamic context helps understanding
• Islam advocates consultation, cooperation and
  self-reliance.

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Health promotion through Islamic Lifestyles The
Amman Declaration 1409/1989

• See notes for the full text of the Amman
  Declaration
• ?? ?? ?? ??

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World Health Organisation series of publications

• Health Education through religion
• series The Right Path to Health
• 1. Islamic Rulings in Smoking
• 2. Water and Sanitation in Islam
• 3. Islamic Ruling on Animal Slaughter
• 4. Health Promotion through Islamic Lifestyles
  the Amman Declaration
• 5. The Role of Religion and Ethics in the
  Prevention and Control of AIDS
• 6. Health an Islamic Perspective
• 7. Environmental Health an Islamic Perspective
• 8. Islamic Rulings on Male and Female
  Circumcision  

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Community-based health promotion Islamic
concepts

• Zat al bain essential bonds within a community
• Fard el kifaya Collective duty to care about
  others
• Duty to help communities to be self-sufficient
• Responsibility of professionals to apply their
  knowledge to improve health

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Community what does it mean?

• A group of people living in one locality
• a group who share beliefs
• a group who share interests
• communities are not homogeneous they contain
  contain rich and poor, old and young, weak and
  strong

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Child Care in Islam

• Islam emphasises the importance of childrens
  health. The book Child Care in Islam by Al
  Azhar University, Cairo summarises Islamic
  principles on
• state and right of the child
• child survival and development
• nutrition and health
• child rearing in Islam
• hygiene

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Child Care in Islam Islamic principles and
messages from religious texts.

• For example
• There is no bigger sin than neglecting your
  dependents
• Eat and drink but waste not by excess.
• Educate your children for they are born for a
  time that is not yours.

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Child Care in Islam More examples of relevant
messages from religious texts

• ...start with the girls first
• Cleanliness is half the faith
• Islam has instructed us to wash (hands) before
  and after our meals, as well as during
  ablutions,
• and many other instructions to wash regularly
  and keep the body clean.

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Translating messages into health education

• The messages are not enough on their own.
• To achieve understanding and changes in
  behaviour, a good communication process is
  needed.
• Health educators need to consider
• Who delivers the message?
• and How ?

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Components of a health education programme

• consultation with communities involved
• agreeing target groups
• objectives of the programme
• the priority messages
• appropriate health educators
• suitable locations
• the type of communication
• the method of evaluation

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Consultation ? ? Islamic structures can
enable appropriate health education

• Shura is consultation between people and their
  leaders
• Waqfs are contributions to welfare
• Health authorities cooperate with Shura
• Responsibilities of communities, mosques and
  madrasas

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Example components of a health education
programme for Muslim womenon healthy infant
feeding

• Consultation health team consult the local Shura
  council, religious leaders. Female health workers
  consult older women and womens organisations.
  Male leaders are asked to consult and represent
  female family members. Use of Waqfs resources for
  meetings.
• Objectives are agreed, such as
• to provide support to every mother who wishes to
  breastfeed
• to ensure all women know the best local foods for
  weaning infants.

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Example of health education programme on infant
feeding continued

• Messages for example
• Mothers shall suckle their children for two
  years (Quran II 233)
• Rice is a good weaning food
• Health educators women over 25 yrs and wives or
  sisters of leaders and health workers. Their
  training emphasises the value of Fard el kifaya,
  collective duty to care about others.
• Locations health authorities, Shura and
  religious leaders help to provide locations.
  Suitable for women homes, hospitals and health
  centres, water sources, social gatherings.

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Example of health education programme on infant
feeding continued

• Communication of the messages by female health
  educators individual and group discussions
  two-way communication rather than lectures
  listening to womens problems audio-visual
  materials such as stories, pictures, calendars,
  demonstrations of weaning foods.
• Evaluation by
• survey of breastfeeding and weaning, acceptable
  to women
• interviews to assess satisfaction of mothers
• review by health team and Shura council.

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Health education planning cycle
Shura and community consultation
Evaluation by health educators and women
Objectives and messages
Women health educators
Two-way communication in locations for women
Training using Islamic values
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Summary ????

• Islamic scholarship made a historical
  contribution to health education ??
• Today Islam can contribute messages, structures
  and policies ? ?
• Combining systematic planning and Islamic
  structures can improve health education for
  Muslim communities ??