Promotion of health condition in modern society is a multidisciplinary endeavour that ranges from surveillance of diseases and health in a specific population to the facilitation of health information and advice. The improvement of health status in the 21st century also involves actions at all levels including community level although to national and international levels. Health promotion also takes place in various places including streets, nightclubs, youth centres, hospitals, workplace, and schools. However, despite the existence of a collective initiative to address health complications in modern complicated and integrated society, cultural context on health and illness has been a major concern among modern healthcare professionals. The existence of conflicting cultural and social beliefs on health has so far created both ethical and cultural conflict among healthcare professionals and other healthcare actors. Most communities support efforts to improve health condition in the society, but some cultural set ups and practices undermine modern efforts of addressing health challenges in contemporary society. Through intensive and continuous researches and studies, scholars have identified various cultural factors that influence the concept of illness, health and diseases and the response to diseases and ill health.
The patients’ culture has a central influence on society mental and physical health. In most cultures especially in less developed countries, diseases and response to diseases are influenced by cultural practices and beliefs. Some cultures link diseases with other cultural factors such as witchcraft while others assume that diseases is a natural and biological reactions on one’s body. Cultures that stereotype diseases and other healthcare complications encounter severe problems in dealing with modern healthcare complications. On the other hand, researches and other modern intervention measures intended at improving healthcare complicated on society that does not stereotype healthcare complications are effective and reliable. This therefore means that culture beliefs and stereotypes have a fundamental influence on the manner in which health challenges in the society are addressed as well as the way in which people reacts to diseases and ill health (Reverby 12).
Family institution in any culture has a fundamental role on community members’ reaction to health problems and the success of modern healthcare intervention measures. Some culture beliefs that family factors have a critical role in determining the health conditions of its family members. This is especially the cases in situations where the involved healthcare complication is genetically transferred from one-community members to another. However, in other situations, community members hold the perceptions that health complications are a family challenge that need to be solved by the involved family members. The way community members link health condition with family factors have a critical role in determining health conditions in the society. Family protective factors and risks on illness vary across ethnic groups due to differences on the role and influence of family factors on health. Communities that have flexible cultural practices and beliefs have largely benefitted from emerging intervention measures on complicated health challenges.
Cultural practices and beliefs have also proved to be influential factors in determining community coping mechanism to emerging health complications. Some communities believe on the importance of taking immediate health actions to address emerging health challenges while others emphasise the importance of taking cultural action to deal with the identified health complication. Adopting a reliable coping mechanism is a vital factor that determines community health condition. In most instances, community that overemphasises on using conventional practices to address health challenges have poor health conditions compared to society that are flexible in embracing modern and most reliable coping mechanism. Some cultural practices also shape the manner in which community members adopt new coping styles in improving their health. Studies have indicated that traditional cultural practices have poor and unreliable coping mechanism especially n modern complicated health challenges.
Cultural stigma and victimisation have also been ranked as one of the most detrimental factors that have undermined health improvement in modern society. Stigmatisation undermines modern effort of dealing with emerging health complication. Following unnecessary stigmatisation in the society, some patients are forced to hide their health condition thus undermining modern effort of dealing with emerging health challenges. Despite denying patients access to health support, stigmatization also complicated individual health emotional and mental conditions. Instead of helping in addressing health challenge in modern society, stigmatisation facilitates criticism on patients for their health conditions. An initiative that would help in informing community members on some of the dangers that are linked to stigmatisation is therefore of great essence in improving health condition in modern society (Dettwyler, 94)
It is apparent that cultural and historical context has a high influence on the concept of diseases, illness and the response to diseases and ill health. Although some historical and cultural practices support the improvement of health in modern society, cultural practices that undermine health intervention measures in modern society are identifiable. This means to address cultural and ethical conflict and issues, modern healthcare professionals have an undertaking of understanding the role and contribution of historical and cultural issues on the concepts of health in modern society. Knowledge of the role of culture will not only improve the health situation in modern society, but also help in reducing conflict between culture and modern cultural practices.
Work Cited
Dettwyler, Katherine A. Dancing Skeletons: Life and Death in West Africa. Prospect Heights, Ill: Waveland Press, 1994. Print.
Reverby, Susan. Examining Tuskegee: The Infamous Syphilis Study and Its Legacy. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009. Print.
