Cultural Views On Health

765 Words4 Pages
Cultural Views on Health HCA 230 Cultural Views on Health Culture refers to a series of values, regulations, and traditions common by a group of people. Cultural beliefs indicate how members ought to act, what positions they are likely to take part in, and how different procedures and proceedings should be understood. Cultural differences are not merely an exercise in curiosity, but an important condition for working in the direction of superior health throughout humanity. As a mutually supporting society, it is of the essence to understand the viewpoints of people who may be different. In a study done on newborn care practices in underprivileged and countryside areas of Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan, all reports pointed to religious and cultural barriers to looking for care in addition to inadequate public information about the importance of health care and acknowledgment of maternal and newborn danger signs (Syed, Nhadka, & Wall, 2008) . Regular doctor visits, particularly during the postnatal period, were generally low. When families did seek health care, they favored medication from customary healers more willingly than skilled health workers for the reason that of cultural and religious beliefs. In Bangladesh, husbands and mothers-in-law were usually the decision makers about antenatal care (ANC). Women found the idea of antenatal care to be shameful, especially if the examination were done by male health workers. Religious barriers noted were not considered to be too strong to get in the way of ANC care. Religious and cultural barriers could be overcome in these countries by providing husbands with information about the benefits of ANC, and by asking for community and religious leaders to announce that women receiving ANC did not violate ‘purdah’, or customary women’s seclusion from men. Advice about the importance of ANC from health workers, and from
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