
Which cultures have a strong focus on alternative medicine?
Feb 07, 2018 · Christian Scientists Christian Scientists believe that the primary method of healing should be through prayer, and many members have in the past been against modern medical treatments. There have...
What culture should a medical provider understand?
Mexico doesn’t want it now. Mexican patients tend to have strong cultural and religious beliefs associated with illness and medical care. In many area of Mexico, there are not doctors, just...
How did other cultures develop medical knowledge?
Health care is a complex issue. Cultural and language barriers complicate the situation. Western medicine has developed into a subculture with its own history, language, codes of conduct, expectations, methods, technologies, and concerns about the science which supports it. Science teaches us that human populations are governed by biologic universals that transcend cultural …
Are cultures a barrier to care?
Here, we provide an overview of the interface between culture and medication adherence for chronic conditions; discuss medication adherence in the context of observed health disparities; provide examples of cultural issues in medication adherence at the individual, family, and healthcare system/provider level; review potential interventions to ...

What religion does not accept medical treatment?
What are cultural barriers to healthcare?
What cultures affect healthcare?
- Family and Community. ...
- Religion. ...
- Perspectives on Death. ...
- Gender Roles. ...
- Health Beliefs. ...
- Beliefs about Medication. ...
- Responses to Medications.
What are some cultural beliefs in healthcare?
Why is culture a barrier in health and social care?
What are five points of cultural diversity in healthcare?
How does culture affect medical treatment?
How culture connects to healing and recovery?
What are the Filipino cultural beliefs and practices related to health?
How does religion affect medical treatment?
How does Chinese culture affect healthcare?
How does religion negatively affect health?
What is alternative medicine?
So-called alternative medicine isn’t one single system of medicine and healthcare, but is rather a number of more or less unrelated practices including chiropractic, homeopathy, yoga, herbalism, and nutrition.
Is Western medicine an absolute?
Many people consider the Western medical approach to be an absolute, which is not the case once one has a cross-cultural perspective. In the Western model, if there is disease, then it or at least its symptoms should be removed; this seems to be obvious. However, there are many other approaches around the world, ...
What is Western medicine?
Western medicine focuses on using medication and surgery, almost excluding any other approaches. The goal is to cure or manage disease, or at least suppress the symptoms. The focus is on the disease or injury rather than on the characteristics of the person who has the disease. Chinese medicine.
What is TCM in Chinese medicine?
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) focuses on the person rather than disease, with much more emphasis on prevention of disease and regular tune-ups than on the curing of a specific ailment, although it can be used for that purpose when needed. The main treatment modalities are acupuncture and acupressure, food, and herbs.
What is Ayurveda in India?
Ayurveda is a healthcare system in wide use in India, although knowledge of Ayurveda is gaining ground in other countries. Ayurveda means “knowledge of life”, and is about knowing one’s body and experience, and about balancing three aspects of the body and mind called doshas.
What is the meaning of Ayurveda?
Ayurveda means “knowledge of life”, and is about knowing one’s body and experience, and about balancing three aspects of the body and mind called doshas. Like TCM, it makes use of food and herbs as well as self-knowledge. Alternative medicine.
What is optimal health?
Western medicine often defines optimal health as the absence of named diseases, although there’s a huge difference between someone who is disease-free yet barely slogging through life and someone who is vital and vibrant.
What is holistic medicine?
Holistic medicine — the philosophy of treating body, mind, and spirit together — is being incorporated into standard medical treatment throughout the world. For many cultures, the term “holistic treatment” is used to refer to alternative or complementary medicine, which uses natural remedies to treat and prevent illness and disease.
How old is Ayurveda?
At 3,000 years old, the practice is one of the oldest medical systems in the world. “The term ‘Ayurveda’ combines the Sanskrit words ayur (life) and veda (science or knowledge). Many Ayurvedic practices predate written records and were handed down by word of mouth,” according to NCCAM.

Misperceptions of Western Medicines
- At a recent noon conference for medical residents at the University Of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Dr. Rosanna Fiallo-Scharer presented a case study involving a Mexican immigrant child with diabetes mellitus type 2. During office visits with Dr. Fiallo-Scharer, the girl’s mother accepted the diabetes diagnosis and the use of insulin in treatment. However, the child was not respondin…
Problems Associated with Traditional Medicine Use
- A 2001 survey of 745 members of the American Academy of Pediatrics found that 87 percent of pediatricians had been asked about complementary and alternative medicines by a patient or a parent in the 3 months prior to the survey. The pediatricians were asked most often about herbs and dietary supplements. Given these statistics among Americans, why is the use of traditional r…
Misunderstanding of Chronic Disease
- Many cultures have specific treatments for acute illness, but have no concept of asymptomatic chronic diseases. Therefore, “it hurts you go to the doctor, if not, you don’t.”Without an understanding of how to manage chronic diseases, patients/parents may think that medications should be discontinued once symptoms have abated. Also, each exacerbatio...
Summary and Key Cross-Cultural Communication Concepts/Skills
- Cultural barriers to treatment and compliance aren’t always easy to ascertain and, as we’ve seen in the above cases, create gaps in effective communication that impede the success of treatment. There is no way for health care professionals to predict specific cultural barriers with certainty in every situation, so cross-cultural communication skills become extremely important in uncoveri…
Related Links and Resources
- 1.Study referenced involving Cambodian refugees https://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/2618800.html 2. Case Study involving Hmong family and misperceptions about birth control pills http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/china/hmong-refugees-and-us-health-system 3. Culture and Family DynamicsA…