Healthcare Experiences and Expectations of Atheists, Deists and Agnostics in Türkiye: A Qualitative Study of Mental Well-Being.
Güven Soner, Emel Güven, Ercan Tunç
PMID 42171513WHAT IT FOUND
Non-religious patients in Türkiye described hiding their beliefs to avoid judgment.
Unsolicited religious advice, like being told to pray, broke trust and led some to skip appointments. They wanted clinicians to focus on the illness, not their identity, and to keep personal beliefs out of care.
Key findings
01Participants often concealed their non-religious identity as a protective strategy against anticipated stigma or judgment from healthcare providers.
02Unsolicited religious advice or fatalistic statements from clinicians were reported to erode trust, increase anxiety, and lead to discontinuation of treatment.
03Participants emphasized that professional neutrality, evidence-based communication, and empathy without religious framing were key to feeling safe and adhering to treatment.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study used snowball sampling starting from the researcher's network, which may limit the diversity of perspectives and introduce selection bias. The findings are specific to the sociocultural context of Türkiye, a Muslim-majority country, and may not generalize to secular or differently religious societies. The sample size of 17 participants, while sufficient for saturation in this design, represents a small and potentially homogeneous group of educated individuals. The study relies on self-reported experiences and does not include perspectives from healthcare providers, so the frequency or intent of religious remarks in care settings is not verified.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest and reported no funding.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that all patients in religiously conservative settings share those beliefs or want religious comfort. The study shows that for non-religious patients, well-intentioned religious remarks can feel like exclusion and lead to treatment dropout. Keep personal beliefs out of clinical advice unless the patient explicitly invites them.