Culture, Health, Mental health and Interventions Flashcards
(40 cards)
Four indicators of health worldwide
- Life expectancy
- Infant mortality
- Obesity
- Subjective well being
Life expectancy
Wealth/resources affect average across and within countries
- ethnic majority –> ethnic minority
Infant mortality
Number of infant deaths per 1000 live births. Differences attributed to resources (good nutrition, health care, and treatment)
Disparities among ethnic groups
Obesity
Body mass index (BMI) > 25 is overweight
BMI > 30 is obese
Subjective well being
Perception of health and well being
higher SWB = better healt
Healthier lifestyle
Large country differences
Predicted by: wealth, autonomy, connection to others
Cultural dimensions and diseases
Individualism versus collectivism –> heart disease
- individualism vs collectivism
- power distance
- uncertainty avoidance
- masculinity-femininity
Higher power distance in diseases
- higher rates of infections and parasitic diseases
- lower rates of malignant neoplasm, circulatory disease, and heart disease
Higher individualism in diseases
- Higher rates of malignant neoplasms and heart disease
- lower rates of infections and parasitic diseases, cerebrovascular disease
Higher uncertainty in deseases
Higher rates of heart disease
Avoidance in disease
Lower rates of cerebrovascular disease and respiratory disease
Higher masculinity in disease
Higher rates of cerebrovascular disease
Biomedical model of health
Views disease as resulting from a specific, identifiable cause, a genetic or developmental abnormality, or physical insult
Biopsychosocial model of health
Views disease as resulting from biological, social and psychological factors
The concept of balance and imbalance
Holistic view
Homeostasis: maintaining steady and stable body functioning during environmental changeso
Body shapes and types
Eating disorders because of body shape ideals and dissatisfaction
- heavier preferred in low SES and skinnier preferred in high SES
Cultural values, beliefs and opinions about wealth, beauty and power impact attitudes toward eating, thinness and obesity
Immigrant paradox
Immigrants doing better on many health measures despite the hardships
- Researchers attribute this to healthy behaviors, social support and immigrant selectivity
Issues with definin abnormality
- absolutist orientation
- universalist perspective
- cultural relativism
Absolutist orientation
Biological models, invariant symptoms across cultures
Universalist perspective
Many disorders actually have identical symptoms
- Alzheimer, Parkinson, Schizophrenia, Autism etc.
Cultural relativism
Disorders can be understood only in the cultural framework within which they occur. Cautions against ethnocentrism
Classification
- assessment issues: reliability/validity and diagnostic categories
- Classification systems: DSM ( CCD and CFI), ICD and CCMD
Classification systems
DSM: Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders
CCD: cultural concepts of distress
CFI: cultural formulation interview
ICD: international classification of diseases
CCMD: chinese classification of mental disorders
Cultural concepts of distress CCD
- cultural syndromes of distress
- cultural idioms of distress
- cultural explanations of distress
Cultural syndromes of distress
Patterns of symptomes that tend to cluster together for individuals in specific cultural groups, communities or contexts