HOW

INFLUENCES
COMMUNITY HEALTH?
 CULTURE
• Characteristics and knowledge of particular
group of people, encompassing language,
religion, cuisine, social habit music and arts.
• There is an extraordinary diversity of cultures
throughout the world and within many
nations and communities. Beliefs, behaviours
and attitudes to health and ageing are greatly
influenced by traditions, religious beliefs and
values.
Information sources: Kim Ann Zimmermann, 2017; WHO, 2018
 Culture & Other Aspects
1. Beliefs

2. Tradition & Prejudice

3. Religions

4. Social Norms
1. BELIEFS
 Beliefs
• Certain disease are caused by “too much heat” or
“too much cold” in the body
• Consume certain fruits like jackfruits or
watermelon will cause deposit of “wind” in body
• Consume garlic and ginger can help expel “wind”
out from body
• A women must not wash her hair after childbirth
during confinement period

Information source: Chew et al., 2011

 Culture Belief to Health Healing
• 'Yin and yang' is a dialectical Taoist concept
• Everything has the “qi” energy
• Imbalance in both forces or in “qi” results in
illnesses
• Traditional Malay healers (bomoh, dukun/
pawing) believe that they have the power to heal
diseases.

Information sources: Chew et al., 2011; Raja Ikram and Abd Ghani, 2015
 Health Beliefs and Practice
• Shape local ideas about illness and unique
healthcare practice
• Any health interventions must be made sensible
to the community local beliefs
• Understanding different groups of people's
beliefs and customs
• Acknowledge that culture belief will cause bias
in patients, practitioners and health officials

Information source: Cugh.org, 2018

2. TRADITION &
PREJUDICE
 How does tradition affect
community health?
• Tradition beliefs can affect healthcare in a severe way as people
who believe in tradition don’t tend to believe in the modern
healthcare systems.
• For example, the Andhra Tribe that resides in India refuses to
believe in modern healthcare, as they have their own cultural
ways to treat illnesses and believe in them.
• Even though traditional medicine is a common practice
everywhere, the disadvantages of it are much greater than its
advantages.
• The influence on tradition in health is great as it affects the
persons’ view on illness, death, health and their beliefs on what
causes diseases.
 How prejudice affects community
health?
• Prejudice affects a persons’ health in a vast way as they only
believe that their opinion is right and are biased towards other
methods even if the other methods are the right way.
• For example, parents nowadays refuse to have their children
vaccinated and this is mainly due to their personal health beliefs
and religious reasons.
• Prejudice in healthcare doesn’t only affect the person who is
biased but also people around them, for example, if a parent is
biased in proper healthcare his family may be the victims of his
improper belief.
• Prejudice or bias in healthcare is common these days among
people, and if they are not educated with the proper ways, the
effects to life will be tremendous.
3. RELIGIONS
 How religions affect community health?
Positive effects Negative effects
• Reduce stress level through • Provide misleading
“Religious Coping” (praying to information.
God to change situation or give • Cause people cling to wrongly
enormous strength or employ believing.
religious thought or behaviour) • Increase death rate.
• Religion will promote a
healthy life prospective to
people.
• Religious practices like
vegetarian diet is good for
health.
• Religion will create a caring,
love and tolerance community.
• Minimising the transmission of
AIDS and STD.
4. SOCIAL NORMS
What are social norms?

VS
 What are social norms?
• Common standards within a social group in many
aspects → social influence
• “Unspoken rules” which govern human behaviours.

Why are we affected by social norms?

• Wish to be accepted by the society
SELF-ESTEEM
• Care about what our peers think
• Are contagious → build perceptions

Information source: Heesacker, 2017

 How can social norms affect
community health?
• LEAST visible but MOST powerful forms of social control
• Help to shape people's beliefs in the society's practice of
healthy behaviours (descriptive norms)
• Affect health-related behaviours:
 physical activity (jogging/ gym workout)
 eating behaviours (eating fruits & vegetables)
 regular health check-ups
•Increase awareness on health-related issues
Information source: Ball, et al., 2010
 Conclusion
• Culture community will give great impact to
the health community. Therefore, as a health
profession, we need to understand the local
culture of community, intervent health
promotion to improve health status.
References
• Ball, K., Jeffrey, R. W., Abbott, G., McNaughton, S. A. and Crawford, D. (2010). Is healthy behavior contagious:
associations of social norms with physical activity and healthy eating. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act., 7(86), pp. 1-9.
• Chew, K.S.,Tan, T.W., and Ooi, Y.T. (2011). Influence of Chinese cultural health beliefs among Malaysian Chinese
in a suburban population: a survey. Singapore Med Journal, 52(4), pp. 252-256.
• Cugh.org. (2018). [online] Available at:
https://www.cugh.org/sites/default/files/13_Social_And_Cultural_Factors_Related_To_Health_Part_A_Recognizin
g_The_Impact_-_Copy_0.pdf
[Accessed 11 Nov. 2018].
• FitzGerald, C. and Hurst, S. (2017). Implicit bias in healthcare professionals: a systematic review. BMC Medical
Ethics, [online] 18(1). Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5333436/ [Accessed 12 Nov.
2018].
• Heesacker, M. (2017). Social Influence and Clinical Intervention. In: S. G. Harkins, K. D. Williams and J. M.
Burger, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Social Influence, 1st ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Raja Ikram, R. R. and Abd Ghani, M. H. (2015). An Overview of Traditional Malay Medicine in the Malaysian
Healthcare System. Journal of Applied Sciences, 15, pp. 723-727.
• Rupali Roy. (2014). Positive and Negative Effects of Religion on Health. [ONLINE] Available at:
https://www.speakingtree.in/allslides/positive-and-negative-effects-of-religion-on-health [Accessed 11 November
2018].
• Williamson, J., Wingfield, T. and Ramirez, R. (2015). Health, Healthcare Access, and Use of Traditional Versus
Modern Medicine in Remote Peruvian Amazon Communities: A Descriptive Study of Knowledge, Attitudes, and
Practices. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, [online] 92(4), pp.857-864. Available at:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4385786/ [Accessed 12 Nov. 2018].
• World Health Organization (WHO) (2018).