department of public health health and culture.pdf

Family health is a state in which the family is a resource for the day-to-day living and health of its members. A family provides its individual members with key resources for healthful living, including food, clothing, shelter, a sense of self-worth, and access to medical care

1. CULTUREAND
1
HEALTH

2. Learning Objectives
•Define culture .
•Characteristics of Culture
•Describe the relationship between culture and health
•Discuss the influence of culture on health.
•Public Health Significance

3. Definition
•Cultureisthatcomplexwholewhichincludesknowledge,belief,art,morale,
law,customsandothercapabilitiesandhabitsacquiredbymanasamember
ofsociety.
•Culturereferstothesumtotalofthelife-waysofagroupofpeoplewho
sharevalues,beliefsandpracticesthatarepassedonformgenerationto
generationandwhichchangethroughtime.

4. Conti….
•Cultureisthesumtotalsofthethingsthatpeopledobecauseofhavingbeen
taught.Fortheperpetuationofhumanrace,mandependsonculture,whichisa
learnedbehavior.
•Cultureispeculiartohumanbeings.Itseparatesmanandthesocietyfromthatof
animalsandinsects,whosebehaviorisalwaysonlyinstinctualandthereforedoes
notchange.Man’scultureorlearnedbehaviormakespossibletochange
continuously.

5. Conti….
•Thethreesuggestedlevelsofcultureinclude:
•Concrete-themostvisibletangibleartifactssuchasclothes,music,art,foodandgames.
Festivalsandcelebrationfocusonthesedimensions.
•Behavioral–practicesreflectvaluesanddefinedsocialandgenderroles,languagesspoken,and
approachestonon-verbalcommunication.
•Behavioralaspectsofcultureincludelanguage,genderroles,familystructure,politicalaffiliation,
andcommunityorganization.

6. Conti….
•Symbolic–valuesandbeliefareoftenexpressedinsymbolsandrituals.
Althoughoftenabstract,symbolicmeaningiskeytohowpeopledefine
themselvesinrelationtoeachother,theworldandtheuniverse.Symbolic
expressionincludesvaluesystems,religion,worldview,customs,spirituality,
moralsandethics

7. Characteristicsof Culture
•Allcultureshaveatleastfivecharacteristicsincommon:
•Cultureislearned
•Cultureisbasedonsymbols
•Cultureisshared
•Cultureispatternedorintegrated
•Cultureisusuallyadaptive

8. Relation of Culture and Health
•Cultureisoneofthedeterminantsofhealthamongtheenvironmentalfactors.An
individual’scultureinfluenceshisorherattitudetowardvarioushealthissues,
includingperceptionsofwhatisandisnotahealthproblem,methodsofdisease
prevention,treatmentofillness,anduseofhealthproviders.Ineveryculture,the
careofthesickpersonisclearlydictatednotonlyastowhatcarehe/sheisgiven,
butalsowhowilldoitandhowhe/sheshouldproceed.

9. Conti….
•Welearnfromourownculturalandethnicbackgroundshowtobehealthy,
howtorecognizeillness,andhowtobeill.Meaningsattachedtothenotions
ofhealthandillnessesarerelatedtobasic,culture-boundvaluesbywhichwe
defineagivenexperienceandperceptions.

10. Conti….
•Peoplearoundtheworldhavebeliefsandbehaviorsrelatedtohealthand
illnessthatstemfromculturalforcesandindividualexperienceand
perceptions.Tounderstandtheculturalcontextofhealth,itisessentialto
workwithseveralkeyconcepts.

11. Conti….
•1.Theconceptofinsiderandoutsider:Perspectivesareusefulforexamining
whenweareseeingthingsfromourpointofviewandwhenwearetryingto
understandsomeoneselse'sviewofthings.Insidershowsthecultureasviewed
fromwithin.Itreferstothemeaningthatpeopleattachtothingsfromtheircultural
perspective.Forexample,theviewworms(ascaris)inchildrenarenormalandare
causedbyeatingsweetsintheperspectivewithinsomecultures.

12. Conti….
•Theoutsiderperspective:referstosomethingasseenfromtheoutside.
Ratherthanmeaning,itexpressesastructuralapproach,orsomethingas
seenwithoutunderstandingitsmeaningforaculture.Itcanalsoexpressan
outsider'smeaningattachedtothesamephenomenon.Forexample,that
ascarisiscontractedthrougheggsingestedbycontactwithcontaminatedsoil
orfoodscontaminatedbycontactwiththatsoil.

13. Conti….
•2.Ethnocentrismsrefertoseeingonesowncultureas"best".Thisisa
naturaltendency,becausethesurvivalandperpetuationofaculturedepends
onteachingchildrentoacceptitandonitsmembersfeelingthatitisagood
thing.

14. Conti….
•Culturalrelativisminanthropologyreferstotheideathateachculturehas
developeditsownwaysofsolvingproblemsofhowtolivetogether;howto
obtaintheessentialoflife,suchasfoodandshelter;howtoexplain
phenomena;andsoon.

15. Conti….
•Nooneis"better"or"worse";theyarejustdifferent.Thisisachallenge,
whatifabehavioris"wrong"fromandepidemiologicalperspective.How
doesonedistinguishbetweena'dangerous'behavior(example,usingHIV
contaminatedneedle)andbehaviorthataremerelydifferentandtherefore,
seemodd?Forexample,Bolivianpeasantsuseveryfineclayinadrink
believedtobegoodfordigestionandstomachailments.

16. Conti….
•Healthworkerssucceededindiscouragingthispracticeinsomecommunities
because'eatingdirt'seemedlikeabadthing.Thehealthworkersthenfound
themselvesfacedwithincreasedcaries(toothdecay)andothersymptomsof
calciumdeficiency.Uponanalysis,theclaywasakeysourceofcalciumfor
thesecommunities.

17. Conti….
•Ingeneral,itisbesttoliveharmlesspracticesaloneandfocuson
understandingandchangingharmfulbehaviors.

18. Conti….
•3.Theconceptofholismisalsousefulinlookingathealthanddiseasecross
culturally.Holismisanapproachusedbyanthropologiststhatlooksatbroad
contextofwhateverphenomenonisbeingstudied.Holisminvolvesstayingalertfor
unexpectedinfluences,becauseoneneverknowswhatmayhaveabearingonthe
programoneistryingtoimplement.Forpublichealth,thisiscrucialbecausethere
maybediversefactorsinfluencinghealthandhealthbehavior.

19. PublicHealthSignificance
•Themassmediaintheformofradio,television,newspapers,health
exhibitions,roleplaysetc.goalongwayinchangingtheattitudeand
behaviorofthepeopleandthisdemandsmorepatienceaswellas
persistencefromthehealthcareworkers,astheculturalpracticesare
deeprootedandrequiresaverylongtimetochangeormodify.

20. Conclusion
•Cultureisanimportantsectorofsocialandhumandevelopment,
whichcontributestoidentity-buildingandself-esteem,fosterseconomic
growthandsocialcohesion,andhelpstopromotepoliticalparticipation
andownership.

21. Conti….
•Morethananyotherdisciplineintheuniversity,anthropologyhas
developedthetools,models,andsensitivitiestoanalyzecultureandto
providebridgesofunderstandingbetweenindividualsofdifferentcultures.