Offering a trenchant analysis of the effect that culture has in determining our perceptions - and expectations - of health care, this provocative volume challenges traditional, Westernized, medical models. The author surveys various aspects of the health education domain, discusses the elements that inform an educational diagnosis of health behaviour and considers the cultural appropriateness of health behaviour in general.
Culture and Health offers an overview of different areas of culture and health, building on foundations of medical anthropology and health behavior theory. It shows how to address the challenges of cross-cultural medicine through interdisciplinary cultural-ecological models and personal and institutional developmental approaches to cross-cultural adaptation and competency. The book addresses the perspectives of clinically applied anthropology, trans-cultural psychiatry and the medical ecology, critical medical anthropology and symbolic paradigms as frameworks for enhanced comprehension of health and the medical encounter. Includes cultural case studies, applied vignettes, and self-assessments.
Culture, Health and Illness is an introduction to the role of cultural and social factors in health and disease, showing how an understanding of these factors can improve medical care and health education. The book demonstrates how different cultural, social or ethnic groups explain the causes of ill health, the types of treatment they believe in, and to whom they would turn if they were ill. It discusses the relationship of these beliefs and practices to the instance of certain diseases, both physical and psychological. This new edition has been extended and modernised with new material added to every chapter. In addition, there is a new chapter on 'new research methods in medical anthropology', and the book in now illustrated where appropriate. Anyone intending to follow a career in medicine, allied health, nursing or counselling will benefit from reading this book at an early stage in their career.
"This book provides students of public health with tools and perspectives for understanding the relationship between culture and health. Effective promotion programs cannot be realized without attention to the cultural context. As part of the Essentials Public Health series, this critical text introduces the concept of culture as a framework for understanding human behavior and health."--Back cover.
"This book will examine what is meant by culture, the ways in which culture intersects with health issues, how public health efforts can benefit by understanding and working with cultural processes, and a brief selection of conceptual tools and research methods that are useful in identifying relationships between culture and health. The book will also include practical guidelines for incorporating cultural understanding in public health settings, and examples of programs where that has occurred"--
Health, Culture and Religion in South Asia brings together top international scholars from a range of social science disciplines to critically explore the interplay of local cultural and religious practices in the delivery and experiences of health in South Asia. This groundbreaking text provides much needed insight into the relationships between health, culture, community, livelihood, and the nation-state, and in particular, the recent struggles of disadvantaged groups to gain access to health care in South Asia. The book brings together anthropologists, sociologists, economists, health researchers and development specialists to provide the reader with an interdisciplinary approach to the study of South Asian health and a comprehensive understanding of cutting edge research in this area. Addressing key issues affecting a range of geographical areas including India, Nepal and Pakistan, this text will be essential reading for students and researchers interested in Asian Studies and for those interested in gaining a better understanding of health in developing countries. This book was published as a special issue of South Asian History and Culture.
This book traces the history of formative, enduring concepts, foundational in the development of the health disciplines. It explores existing literature, and subsequent contested applications. Feminist legacies are discussed with a clear message that early sociological and anthropological theories and debates remain valuable to scholars today. Chapters cover historical events and cultural practices from the standpoint of ‘difference’; formulate theories about the emergence of social issues and problems and discuss health and illness in light of cultural values and practices, social conditions, embodiment and emotions. This collection will be of great value to scholars of biomedicine, health and gender.
