Home-based services may include hospice care, disaster relief, or grief counseling. A crisis involving family violence, child abuse, domestic abuse, or elder abuse may also require home visits. In cases where a family member is experiencing severe depression or threatening to commit suicide, health care professionals may be called to assess or intervene in the situation. Home assessments may be mandated or be best practice, as in cases of adoption home studies, working with adjudicated youth, or in discharge planning. Religious belief system(s) have a documented impact in family functioning and response to therapeutic intervention (Boyd-Franklin, 2006; Bailey, 2002). It is imperative that the practitioner or provider of home-based services for Muslim clientele considers the cultural/religious aspects of service delivery. Religious practices, working with the opposite gender, family composition, and cultural forms of dress are some of the

items practitioners may need additional information on when dealing with traditional Muslims. is chapter addresses these items, as well as gives a brief description of the demographics and ethnology of American Muslims.

American Muslims reside largely in suburban and urban communities, although some are also present in rural communities. According to Gallup’s (2009) Muslim West Facts Project, 51% of the Muslim population is married, averaging 1.33 children (under 18 in the home) having a family size of 3.81 persons (p. 25). Pew’s research (2007) observed that 26% of the American Muslim population has a household income of $75,000 or more annually. is gure is comparable to the 28% rate for the American public (p. 19). e same report noted a disparity between the general public and the Muslim populations of France, Spain, Germany, and Great Britain. A larger percentage of Muslims in the aforementioned European countries were part of the lower economic strata compared to the general public.