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Objectives
At the end of the unit learners will be able to:
• Explain the concept of culture
• Discuss the importance of socio cultural anthropology and its
relation to health
• Explain the concept of society at micro and macro levels
• Describe the concepts of health, illness and disease, society,
community, culture,
• Discuss health and disease as a product of social behavior
• Differentiate between the different healing systems and
practitioners 2
Objectives…cont.
• Explore religious beliefs and practices related to prevention and
healing in illness

• Identify issues of integration of traditional healing practices

and modern medicine

• Explore beliefs and practices of a client regarding their

activities of daily living in different cultures

• Describe basic principles of Eastern and Western medicine. 3

Culture
• “Culture is a complex whole which include knowledge,
belief, art, law, morals (ethics), custom and other
capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of
society”.
(Edward Taylor, 1958)
• “Culture is a complex whole that consists of all the ways we
think and do and everything we have as members of
society”.
(Robert Bierstadt, 1974)
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 Cultural concepts
• A cultural group within a larger culture, often having beliefs or
interests at variance with those of the larger culture.

• Subculture may be based on any characteristic that identifies the

group as distinct from the larger national culture, such as:
nationality of origin, religion, race, gender, social class, age ,
profession

• Bicultural is used to describe a person who has dual pattern of

identification and crosses two cultures, lifestyles and sets of values.
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Forms of Culture
• Material Culture:
• Formed by the physical objects that people create.
• Examples: Cars, clothing, books, buildings, computers
• Non-material Culture:
• Abstract human creations (can’t touch it).
• Examples: Language, family patterns, work
practices, political and economic systems .
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Terminologies
• Values:
These are the conception of goodness. Values such as
fundamental rights, patriotism, respect for human dignity,
rationality, sacrifice, individuality, equality, democracy
etc. guide our behaviour in many ways.
• Belief:
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It is a state or habit depend on trust and confidence.
Terminologies
• Sociology
It is the scientific study of structure and function of human
group.
• Socialization
It is defined as a process of learning social norms and ways of
life.
• Norms:
Norms are ideal standards binding upon the members of a
certain group which will guide and control acceptable behavior
in the group. For example Girls wear pink; boys wear blue 8
 Cont…
• Race:
“Race” refers to physical differences that groups and cultures
consider socially significant.
• Ethnicity
“Ethnicity” refers to shared culture, such as language, ancestry,
practices, and beliefs.
• Nationality
It is refer to as country where one has membership.
• Religion
It is a personal commitment to and serving to God or a god with 9
worship devotion.
 Sociocultural Anthropology
• Anthropology:
• The term anthropology is a combination of two words derived from
Greek language: anthropos and logos.
• The term anthropos is equivalent to the word mankind or human
being, while logos means study or science. SO putting the two words
together, anthropology is the study or science of mankind or
humanity.
• Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with
human behavior, human biology, and societies, in both the present and
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past, including past human species
Cont…..
• Social Anthropology

The studies of patterns of behavior among humans

• Cultural Anthropology

Focused on the study of cultural variation among humans.

• Sociocultural anthropology

Sociocultural anthropology is the study of human similarities and

differences and their impact on a wide range of social phenomenon.
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 Society At Micro And Macro Level
• Macrosociology involves
the study of widespread
social processes.

• Microsociology involves
the study of people at
interpersonal level, as in face-
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to-face interaction.
Macro Society
• The Macro level is the largest of the society groupings.
Macrosociology is a term describing the study of our
largest societies and populations.

• In actuality the macro level doesn’t just study the largest

of societies but also society as a whole.

• Globalization has aided in expanding the extent of study at the

macro level to encompass more and more of the world. 14
 Micro Society
• As the name suggests this is the smallest of the levels of society.

• Micro level groupings are more intimate(CLOSE) societies

that many humans will automatically identify with first.

• Micro level societies are families, church groups, schools and

the like.

• However, the complexity of this small group is that within the

larger levels of society there are still smaller micro levels that
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make them up.
Definitions
WHO definition of Health.
• Health
“It is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not
merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.
• Society
“A group of people who live in a defined geographic area, who interact
with one another, and who share a common culture is what
sociologists call a society”.
• Illness
A disease or period of sickness affecting the body or mind 16
Cont…
• Disease
An abnormal condition affecting an organism. This abnormal
condition could be due to infection , degeneration of tissue
injury/ trauma.
• Community
A community can be defined as “a large group of individuals
living together for a long time in a locality, having common
interests, goals and lifestyles and meeting most of their needs
from local social institutions”.
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Social Behavior
• In physiology and sociology, social behavior is behavior
directed towards society, or taking place between
members of the same species.
• A variety of animals, including humans, share similar types
of social behavior such as aggression and bonding.
• Even species with less complex brains, such as ants, may
have behaviors serving similar general functions. 18
 Different Healing Systems And Practitioners
 Systemized Health Care Practices
• A number of health care practices have been systemized
throughout the centuries and throughout the world.
• Some of the healing systems are discussed here.
 Ayurveda
• Ayurveda is an alternative medicine system with historical
roots in the Indian subcontinent.
• Ayurveda emphasizes good health and prevention and
treatment of illness through lifestyle practices (such as
massage, meditation, yoga, and dietary changes) and the use
of
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herbal remedies.
Cont…
• Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) is based on the idea that the
body’s vital energy circulates through pathways and these can be
assessed through specific points on the body surface. Disease can
be described as interruption in the energy flow.

• Curranderismo is a Latin American cultural healing system. They

are herbalist, counselors, massage therapist. Also utilize religious
rituals and prayers.
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Cont…
 Botanical Healing
Healing done by using plants and herbs. It include:
• Herbal Medicine uses herbs in treating illness.
• Aromatherapy is the therapeutic use of essential oils
of plants.
• Homeopathy is self healing system assisted by small doses
of remedies/medicine. A homeopath selects the most
appropriate medicine based on the individual's specific
symptoms and personal level of health.
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Naturopathy is a system of medicine that also include client
responsibility, education, health maintenance and disease
prevention.

Nutritional Therapy is consumption of specific types of diets

or supplements in treating and preventing illness. For example
use of vitamin , minerals , amino acid fish oils etc.
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Manual Healing Methods
• Chiropractic includes balance specially nervous and
musculoskeletal system. The treatment of choice is
spinal adjustment.

• Massage include manipulation of soft tissue, a way

of communication without words and physical
caring.
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Cont…
• Acupuncture and acupressure are
techniques in which pressure or
stimulation is applied to specific points
on the body.
• Spiritual Therapy include faith
and prayer
• Miscellaneous Therapies include
music therapy, humor and laughter.

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Mind-Body Therapies
• Yoga
The term "yoga" comes from a Sanskrit word meaning "union."
Yoga combines physical exercises, mental meditation, and
breathing techniques to strengthen the muscles and relieve stress.
• Meditation
It involve relaxing the body and easing the mind.
• Hypnotherapy
The person's attention is so focused while in this state that anything
going on around the person is temporarily blocked out or ignored. In
this naturally occurring state, a person may focus his or her attention
with the help of a trained therapist -- on specific thoughts or tasks. 25
Health Beliefs And Practices
Three views of health beliefs are:
1. Magico-religious health belief
View health and illness are controlled by supernatural forces.
2. Scientific or biomedical health belief
It is based on that life is controlled by physical and biochemical
processes that can be manipulated by humans.
3. Holistic health belief
This belief holds that forces of nature must be maintained in
balance or harmony. 26
Religious healing system
 When prayer is based around the beliefs, organization
or auspices of a defined religious group
 That is one based on the tenets of a formalized or
organized religion, whether God based or humanistic
 Examples of religious healers are
• Molvee
• Paster
• Pandat
Cont….
• Religion beliefs empowering the individual through
connecting him/her to a community, and to a
superior force, that might in turn give psychological
stability
• Health Behaviors:
• Through prescribing a certain diet
• Discouraging the use of alcoholic beverages and smoking
• Dress properly for the season & weather, keep feet from
getting wet in the rain etc
 Issues In Integration Of
Modern Vs Traditional
Medicine
• The most important difference between the modern and
the traditional medicine is the way they observe both the
health and the diseases.
• The focus of modern medicine is on disease prevention not
illness.
• Traditional medicine is long term treatment and its time
consuming.
• Strict religious and traditional beliefs tend to prevent a person
to adopt modern medicine. 29
Eastern Vs Western Medicine

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Reference
Berman , A., & Snyder .S. (2014). Kozier and ERB’s
Fundamental of Nursing: concepts , process, and practice,
Pearson Education India. Edition 9th
Alfred.S (2003) Sociology For Nurses

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