How social & cultural factors are related to health & illness?
Ans:
•Social scientists choose a difference
between disease & illness:
•Illness is the personal, social, &
cultural influences on experience of impairment, pathology, & disease
•Disease is the physiological process of
pathology
•Example:
–Cultural factors such as early
marriage contribute
to the health problem of women, particularly in rural area
– Social factors such as education and
literacy also influence health outcomes
•The
role of a healthcare provider is to alleviate suffering. Yet, it is
difficult to address suffering if you don’t understand the many factors
contributing to it .
•Suffering is a distressing
psychological condition that may causes by physical symptoms such
as pain, shortness of breath, or hunger.
•It may also be caused by nonphysical
sources such
as how people define quality of life, the
meanings they attach to relationships, the anxiety that
uncertainty can cause in an individual or family’s life.
•Suffering may be mitigated by someone’s religious
explanation for
why they are experiencing an illness or their hope for the future during and
after treatment
•How suffering
is expressed also
differs greatly from culture to culture. Some peoples place a high value on
suppressing expressions of pain, for example, while others actually encourage
such expressions. Norms for men and women may also differ
•In order to change people’s behavior to
benefit health, one must understand the way that people think about health. For
example: What are people’s attitudes and practices?
•How would a change impact their lives? In
order to fully address suffering, it is important to attend to the social,
psychological, and cultural components of people’s health in
addition to their bodies. (Henderson 1997)