Meaning and Nature of Health

• The World Health Organization (WHO) defines

health as a state of complete physical, mental and
social well-being and not merely the absence of
disease or infirmity.

• To be healthy should be everyone’s goal as the old

saying “Health is wealth”. However, many people
think that when a person is not sick, the person is
already healthy. Being healthy means a lot more
than that. Health is the complete soundness of the
body and soul (Darilag and others, 2009).
Culture Specific Syndromes and Illness
In the glossary of the book The Culture-Bound Syndromes,
Charles C. Hughes Ph.D., listed almost 200 folk illnesses that
have at one time or another, been considered culture-bound
syndromes (Simons and Hughes, 1986). Many have
wonderfully exotic and evocative names: Arctic hysteria,
amok, brain fag, windigo. Some of the more common
syndromes are described as “bughat”, “usog”/’buyag”

Culture-bound syndromes are specific sets of symptoms and

behaviors that are recognized and experienced within certain
cultural contexts. They are influenced by cultural beliefs,
values, & practices and may not have direct equivalents in
Western medicine. Respecting and understanding these
cultural perspectives is essential for providing appropriate care
and support to individuals experiencing these syndromes
• Bughat
(Postpartum or
Binat)
• “Bughat” (Ilonggo
term) or
“Binat” (Tagalog
version) term which
directly translates to
“relapse”.
14
LIST OF
FORBIDDEN
THINGS
INCLUDE, BUT
NOT LIMITED
TO:
1
• Taking a bath
immediately after
giving birth (must be
3-7 days later).
2
• Taking a bath
in cold water.
3
• Exposing one’s
self to cold air.
4
• Opening one’s legs or
crossing them Indian-style
(must be always closed as
air might go inside the
uterus and this will bring
about pain).
5
• Going up and
down the stairs.
6
• Eating coconut or
other coconut-
based like
ginataan.
7
• Drinking cold
water.
8
• Walking
around.
9
• Reading a
book.
10
• Sewing
11
• Not taking a first
bath with the 7-
leaves concoction.
12
• Carrying heavy
object.
13
• Getting a
manicure or
pedicure.
14
• Go hungry or
miss meals.
 Usog

• (Usog or balis) is a topic in

psycho-medicine in Filipino
Psychology (but considered just
as a Filipino superstition in
Western Psychology).
Possible scientific explanation -
One theory explains usog in terms
of child distress that bleads to
greater subsceptibility to illness
and diseases.
System of Diagnosis, Prevention and Healing
• People from rural area in the Philippines are more
knowledgeable regarding home remedies, traditional
healing techniques, and supernatural ailments, whereas
those from urban rely more on Western medical
intervention and over-the-counter drugs.

• Local healer utilize variety of treatments including the use

of herbs and roots.

• The varius types of healers common thoughout the

Philippines include midwives, masseurs, and specialits for
supernaturally caused ailments.
 What is Traditional Healing?
• Traditional healing is the oldest form of structures medicine.
• Some parts of the world developed medicine, including Chinese
medicine, Graeco-Arabic Medicine and of course the modern
western medicine.
• Traditional healing is originally an integral part of semi nomadic
and agricultural tribal societies.
• Unlike other traditional medicines, traditional healing has no
philosophical base.
• Traditional healing referred to as “wisdom medicine” or “wizard
wisdom” (the word wizard means “wise man” not sorcerer) and
traditional healers are often referred to as a “wise” or “clever”
men or women or a persons of knowledge.
 3.
1.
2.
4.
•• Herbal
•• Midwifery
Bone setting
Herbology
“bandaging
steam
“usingand
“pagpapaa
the fracture
smoke
nak”plants
part and to
“suob”
create
putting
potions”
stone”
 1. 2. 3. 4.
• Midwifery • Bone setting • Herbal • Herbology
“bandaging
“pagpapaa steam and “using
the fracture
nak” part and smoke plants to
putting “suob” create
stone” potions”
The Principles of Traditional Healing
• There are four different pillars according to the
Roman historian Piny the Elder
(23-79 AD.)

Learning Insights Empathy Kindness

• Learning - willingness
and eagerness of an
individual to learn
something new
• Insights - the
fundamental dynamics
operating in everyone’s
mind at all time.
• Empathy - Show
sincere interest in
the needs, hopes,
and dreams of other
people.
• Kindness -
awarenss,
unconditionally,
non-judgement,
and action.
ENERGETIC MEDICINE
• Traditional healing views energy as a
universal force present in all matter,
known by different names across
cultures.
• This energy, whether called Qi,
Prana, Ki, or Mana, is believed to be
disrupted by negative thoughts,
lifestyle, and environmental factors,
leading to illness.
• Traditional healers aim to restore
overall health and address the root
causes for complete recovery.
 Traditional Healing Today
• Since the advent of • Governments
‘big government’ historically viewed
which in Europe them as a threat to
occured with the their power, leading
Roman invasions and to efforts to fragment
in North America and and control healing
Australasisa with practices. Despite
English colonization, this, pockets of
traditional healing has traditional healing
at best been persist, particularly in
misrepresented and areas less impacted
suppressed and at by government
worst been persecuted. influence.
 Traditional Healing Today

• In the Philippines, traditional healers are being

encouraged to attend seminars on traditional healing
conducted by Rural Health centers in cooperation
with local governments. Those who have the time
and money, can enroll in classes conducted by
TESDA and private schools and hospitals.
Traditional healing, considered both ancient and
futuristic, stands as a timeless practice amid
changing governmental dynamics and civilizations.
Code of Ethics of Traditional Healers

• Traditional healers who are

chartered members of the
Traditional Healers
Fellowship have a Code of
Ethics, which they have
pledged to abide to at all
times.
 This Code of Ethics fulfills two
important roles;
al healer’s Code of • It protects the public by
healers must making members and thier
th high motives and patients aware of what
by following the constitues proper ethical
ure. practice, and

• It protects the reputation of

Traditional Healers.
Traditional healer’s Code of
Ethics:

• Traditional healers must

practice with high
motives and ideals and by
following the laws of
nature.
Traditional healer’s Code of
Ethics:

• Their duty is to facilitate

nature’s healing power to
the highest possible
degree.
 Traditional healer’s Code of
Ethics:

• A traditional healer must

maintain proper care of a
patient and respond to an
emergency.
 Traditional healer’s Code of
Ethics:

• A traditional healer shall

not attend a patient while
inebriated or while
suffering a
communicable disease.
Traditional healer’s Code of
Ethics:

• A traditional healer shall

always endeavor to have
a legal guardian present
when treating a ward or
minor.
Traditional healer’s Code of
Ethics:

• A traditional healer shall

not engage in immoral or
improper conduct with a
patient, nor encourage
such behavior.
 Traditional healer’s Code of
Ethics:

• A traditional healer shall

not exploit a patient; fees
must be fair and
treatments relevant to the
patient’s condition.
Traditional healer’s Code of
Ethics:

• Statements to patients
should be made in a
spirit of caring and
truthfulness.
 Traditional healer’s Code of
Ethics:
• Conditions that do not
improve and those that lie
outside the ability or
training of the traditional
healer should be brought
under the care of another
appropriately skilled
practitioner.
 Traditional healer’s Code of
Ethics:
• A traditional healer shall
not cause the
termination, facilitate
the termination of the
life of a person or a
fetus.
 Traditional healer’s Code of
Ethics:

• Appropriate patient
confidentiality must
be maintained at all
times.
 Traditional healer’s Code of
Ethics:
• Advertising and
promotion must be
ethical; exaggerated
claims are against the
spirit of traditional
healing.
 Traditional healer’s Code of
Ethics:
• Traditional healers
shall uphold the honor
and reputation of
traditional healing at
all times.
Western Healing
• Why is Eastern and Western treatments so different? Eastern
medicines may seem strange, even far-fetched. Their treatments
can appear labor-intensive, imprecise, and low-tech, the opposite
of what we consider “advanced”.
• We can begin by realizing that the, medical science is, in some
ways, a product of our culture. It does not represent absolute
truth. Non-Western ancient countries, such as China or Japan for
example, have evolved very different understandings of health
and sickness. It is only by looking at other cultures that we see
our own more clearly. And like other culture, ours comes with
assumptions which may or may not hold up under our scrutiny. It
is by understanding what Western Medicine can and can’t address
well that we can make intelligent choices about alternative
treatments.
EAST: MIND-BODY IS ONE and WEST:
MIND/BODY SPLIT
• Western medicine sees the mind and body as “split”,
meaning two separate entities.
• Eastern traditions see the mind and body as coming
from the same energy (source). This is more than a
philosophical issue. In the West, this disconnect
between the mind and body has directed the clinical
evolution of Western medicine and also affected how
patients are percieved and are treated.
EAST: MIND-BODY IS ONE and
WEST: MIND/BODY SPLIT
• For example, the Western split has led to implied moral
judgements about the person who gets sick. Only the body
gets to have unchallenged “real illnesses”, such as a broken
leg. If the problem is about one’s mental state, like
depression in “the head”, illness is often seen as less real and
more the result of character flaws. In the East, depression and
a broken leg are both real and happen to the same unified
mind/body. One’s responsibility for a condition has nothing
to do with its validity. In fact, in Eastern view, one is as
responsible for managing one’s emotions as one’s physical
body.
EAST: MIND-BODY IS ONE and WEST: MIND/BODY
SPLIT
• Biological categories (like mind/body) that
propose “either-or” explanations are generally
not realistic. Nature does not read our
textbooks. Today, many Western doctors
recognize this “split” as a simplification. Over
the past decade, research has focused on how the
mind and body are connected. But this does not
translate easily or quickly into office practice.
EAST: MIND-BODY IS ONE and WEST: MIND/BODY
SPLIT
• When we learn new things, we sometimes forget that there’s
still a lot we don’t know. In science, the tests we use in labs
keep getting better, and we often come up with new and
improved versions. So, what we find out today might not be
the final answer.
• Imagine having a test that says everythings is normal, but you
still feel unwell. It can make you think your problems aren’t
real. Some illnesses can affect you before they show up on
tests. Conditions like fibromyalgia might not have clear test
results, but that doesn’t mean nothing is wrong.
• It’s a reminder that even tests seem okay, they might not
capture everything. Science is still learning, and what we
know today might not be the whole story.
EAST: SUBTLE BODY and WEST: PHYSICAL
BODY
• Western and Eastern medicines identify and treat different
“bodies”. Which one needs the treatment? That depends on the
problem.
• Western Medicine treats the physical body. It does not
acknowledge energy fields as clinically significant for diagnosis
or treatment. Just diagnosing and treating the physical body can
be effective, especially when dealing with traumas, infections,
and cancers. But many of today’s “stress” illnesses do not start
out or become a significant physical change in the body. Rather
these “stress” conditions mean the body is not working efficiently
and effectively. Medications have a place, but they usually don’t
cure. They are meant to reduce symptoms.
EAST: SUBTLE BODY and WEST: PHYSICAL
BODY
• Eastern traditions treat the physical body and its surrounding
energy fields, called the subtle bodies. These traditions
maintain that illness begins in the energy (subtle) bodies that
surround the physical body and is ultimately expressed in
the physical body. Energy field dysfunction explains some
puzzling pain conditions for which there are no anatomic
explanations. “Stress” illnesses, like irritable bowel,
esophageal reflux, asthma are just a few of the many signs
that the body needs a serious functional “tune-up”.
EAST: INDUCE MIND-BODY SELF-HEALING and
WEST: GIVE MIND/BODY WHAT IT LACKS
• Western Medicine’s approach to the mind/body is
to “fix” the physical body. If the body is missing
a substance, the Western approach is to supply it.

• The Eastern approach is to engage the

mind/body’s self-healing mechanisms. If the
mind/body is missing a substance, the Eastern
approach is to stimulate the body to heal and be
able to make it.
Alternative Medicine
• Alternative medicine encompasses various health
practices not supported by scientific evidence or
established science. It includes a broad range of
therapies, from those biologically plausible but
untested to those directly contradicted by
evidence or even harmful. Examples are
hemeopath, naturopathy, chiropractic,
acupuncture, Ayurvedic medicine, and Christian
faith healing.
Alternative Medicine
• Complementary medicine is alternative medicine used
together with conventional medical treatment in a
belief, not established using the scientific method, that
it “complements” (improves the efficacy of)the
treatment. CAM is the abbreviation for the
complementary and alternative medicine. Integrative
medicine (or integrative health) is the combination of
the practices and methods of alternative medicine with
conventional medicine.
 Health as a Human Right
The human right to health means that everyone has the right to the highest
attainable standard of physical and mental health, which includes access to all
medical services, sanitation, adequate food, decent housing, healthy working
conditions, and a clean environment.
• The human right to health guarantees a system of health protection for all.
• Everyone has the right to the health care they need, and to living conditions
that enable us to be healthy, such as adequate food, housing and a healthy
environment.
• Health care must be provided as a public good for all, financed publicly and
equitably.
The human right to health care means that hospital, clinics, medicines and
doctors services must be accessible, available, acceptable, and of good quality
for everyone, on an equitable basis, where and when needed.
PRACTICING
MEDICAL
PLURALISM
 PLURALISM VS. IDEAL
•IDEAL PLURALISM
•PLURALISM PLURALISM
-a normative ideal that strives for
-refers to the equal recognition, respect, and
participation of all individuals or
existence of diverse
groups in shaping decisions and
perspectives. promoting social justice.
MEDICAL PLURALISM

The employment of more than one medical

system or the use of both conventional and

complementary and alternative medicine

(CAM) for health and illness.

 ACTIVITY: (1 WHOLE SHEET)
1. What is a healthy person? Are all children and adolescents who
are fat (mataba) healthy? Support your answer.

2. Differentiate faith healing and traditional healing (tapal-tapal). Do

you believe in them? Justify your answer.

3. Why do some rural people resort to traditional healing (albularyo)

first before they go to medical clinics or hospitals? Support your
answer.
END