PART 2
causing damage.
Cultural Belief Systems
- Develop from the shared experiences of a social
group and are expressed symbolically
- The use of symbols to define, describe, and relate
to the world around us is one of the basic
characteristics of being human.
Metaphor
- common expression of symbolism wherein one
aspect of life is connected to another through a
shared symbol
- Explanations of a phenomenon usually involve
metaphoric imagery of magical, religious,
natural/holistic, scientific, or biological form.
Paradigm or Worldview
- a way of viewing the world and the phenomena in
it
- includes the assumptions, premises, and linkages
that hold together a prevailing interpretation of
reality.
- Paradigms are slow to change and do so only if and
when their explanatory power has been exhausted
- a group’s prevailing worldview is the basis of
theories of health and disease or illness causation
Common worldviews among magico-religious and
holistic health beliefs
1. Disease is thought of as an entity separate
from self, caused by an agent external to
the body but capable of “getting in” and
2. this causative agent has been attributed to
a variety of natural and supernatural
phenomena
Magico-Religious Health Paradigm
- considers the world as an arena dominated by
supernatural forces
- the fate of the world and those in it, including
humans, depends on the actions of God, the gods, or
other supernatural forces for good or evil.
- the human individual is at the mercy of such forces
regardless of behavior
- the gods punish humans for their transgressions
- Many Latino, African American, and Middle Eastern
cultures are grounded in the magico-religious
paradigm.
- Magic involves the calling forth and control of
supernatural forces for and against others.
- Some African and Caribbean cultures, such as
Voodoo, have aspects of magic in their belief
systems.
-Christian Scientists believe that physical healing can
be affected through prayer alone.
Health and Illness according to magico-religious
paradigm
- illness is initiated by a supernatural agent with or
without justification, or by another person who
practices sorcery or engages the services of
sorcerers.
- The cause-and-effect relationship is not organic;
rather, the cause of health or illness is mystical.
- Health is seen as a reward given as a sign of God’s
blessing and goodwill.

- Illness may be seen as a sign of God’s special favor

insofar as it gives the affected person the
opportunity to become resigned to God’s will, or it
may be seen as a sign of God’s possession or as a
punishment.

- For example, in many Christian religions, the

faithful gather communally to pray to God to heal
those who are ill or to practice healing rituals such as
laying on of hands or anointing the sick with oil.

- health and illness are viewed as belonging first to

the community and then to the individual

- Therefore, one person’s actions may directly or

indirectly influence the health or illness of another
person.

- This sense of community is virtually absent from

the other paradigms

Events believed responsible for illness in the

magico-religious paradigm (Clements, 1932)

• Sorcery

• breach of taboo

• intrusion of a disease object

• intrusion of a disease-causing spirit

• loss of soul

Scientific or Biomedical Health Paradigm

-life is controlled by a series of physical and

biochemic

- espoused by members of most Western cultures,

including the dominant cultural groups in the United
States, Canada, Europe, and Australia Biomedical model (cont’d)

- the application of scientific paradigm to matters of - Disease causes illness

health is often referred to as the biomedical mode
has a more or less specific cause

has a predictable time course

set of treatment requirements

- similar to the magico-religious belief in external
agents

- replaced supernatural forces with infectious and

genetic agents

Hot/Cold Theory of Disease

- founded on the ancient Greek concept of the four

body humors:

yellow bile

black bile

phlegm

blood.

- Humors are considered vital components of the

blood found in varying amounts.

- The four humors work together to ensure the

optimum nutrition, growth, and metabolism of the
body.

- Ecrasia → refers to a state when the humors are

balanced in the healthy individual

- Dyscrasia → refers to a state when the humors are

imbalanced (Osborn, 2015).

- The treatment of disease becomes the process of

restoring the body’s humoral balance through the
addition or subtraction of substances that affect
each of these four humors.

- Foods, beverages, herbs, and drugs are all classified

as hot or cold depending on their effect, not their
actual physical state.

- Disease conditions are also classified as either hot

or cold.

- Imbalance or disharmony is thought to result in

internal damage and altered physiologic functions.

- Medicine is directed at correcting the imbalance as

well as restoring body function.
- Although the concept of hot and cold is itself
widespread, found in Asian, Latino, Black, Arab,
Muslim, and Caribbean societies, each cultural group
defines what it believes to be hot and cold entities,
and little agreement exists across cultures.

Healing system

- refers to the accumulated sciences,

arts, and techniques of restoring and

preserving health that are used by any

cultural group.

Types of Healing Systems

1. Self -care
a. Practice of treating oneself when
having minor illnesses with various
remedies believing that they have
healing powers
i. Over-the-counter
medicines
ii. Megavitamins
iii. Herbs
iv. Exercise
v. Foods
b. When self -treatment is ineffective,
professional and/or folk
(indigenous, generic, traditional)
healing systems are resorted
2. Professional Care Systems
a. referred to as scientific or
biomedical systems, are formally
taught, learned, and transmitted
 professional care, health, illness,
wellness, and related knowledge
and practice skills that prevail in
professional institutions, usually
with multidisciplinary personnel to
serve consumers.
b. Professional care is characterized
by specialized education and
knowledge, responsibility for care,
and expectation of remuneration
for services rendered.
3. Folk Healing System
a. set of beliefs that has a shared
social dimension and reflects what
people actually do when they are
ill versus what society says they
ought to do according to a set of
social standards (Andrews, Ybarra,
& Matthews, 2014)
b. key consideration that defines folk
systems is their history of tradition
c. many folk healing systems have
endured over time through oral
transmission of beliefs and
practices from one generation to
the next. 4. Complementary, Integrative, and
Alternative Health System
a. umbrella term for hundreds of
therapies based on health care
systems of people from around the
world.
b. Some of these therapies have
ancient origins in Egyptian,
Chinese, Greek, and American
Indian cultures.

Integrative health care

- defined as a comprehensive, often interdisciplinary
approach to treatment, prevention, and health
promotion that brings together complementary and
conventional therapies.

- Worldwide, an estimated 33% to 47% of individuals

use complementary or integrative therapies to
manage symptoms, prevent toxicities, and improve
quality of life during cancer treatment (Hoerner, et
al., 2014)

- An estimated 48% to 80% of North American breast

cancer survivors use complementary and integrative
therapies following diagnosis (Greenlee et al., 2014)