What are the cultural practices for health and illness in your family?

Question

Do you think it would fall under accepted "norms" in the US?

This was a journal question that my teacher assigned me but I'm not really getting what she's asking.... Can someone help explain it to me or give me an example?

Thanks

Answer 1

Are your parents hippies practicing/using alternative medicine or do you pop pills the licensed medical doctor prescribes?

If it's the latter you are part of the accepted norms.

Answer 2

My family believes in the curative powers of self medication- liquor. I tend to believe in doctors, but whiskey's pretty efficient if you just feel ... off. For me anyhow. Hah

My stepfather believes that if he eats whatever has attacked him he'll self-cure... bee, spider, poison ivy.... you see.

My family is quite redneck and frankly they terrify me.

Answer 3

Hi, perhaps you could consider where do we get information about illness in western culture, who are the experts and what are they telling us ? Do we follow practices for healthcare that have been handed down through our families " old wives tales" etc. how effective are they and how do they fit in with current scientific thinking. What about the role of the sick person? How long is it acceptable to be sick? Do we have  a responsibility to get well as quickly as we can and how does that fit in with society, work etc. How does religious practice affect our attitude to health and illness and how relevant is that in today's society? Does our ethnic background or income group make a difference to our approach to illness and perhaps more importantly , to health? Are there gender differences to how we deal with health and illness? Do we focus on prevention or cure?

Make sure you unpack the question, define for yourself terms such as 'norms' and 'cultural practices'. What do you think defines the US attitude to health and illness? You are looking for similarities and differences, things that fit and those that don't. If your family is fairly mainstream and you feel confident enough to branch out, look at other attitudes and include them as part of your arguement. Hope this is helpful, Clare.

Answer 4

My famil believes that drinking water cures everything!

Answer 5

Well, my folks are from Missouri, USA. And we feel chicken soup can cure a cold, orange juice for the flu.

We never circumcise our baby boys.

We go to the doctor for just about anything.

We think breast feeding a child is the best way, my aunts would kill me if I mentioned formula.

Don't sleep around, you'll get an STD, for sure in St. Louis!

It a lot of meat! Meat makes the meal. Barely any fruits or veggies, those are just for yuppies.

(granted I say 'family' values. not mine, I like veggies and I like formula and I don't go to the doctor unless something broke.)

Answer 6

for instance, my family is Cuban and we believe that when a woman has a baby she should sleep with her baby in the bed beside her. In America this is considered inappropriate and dangerous because the baby can be smothered if you roll over on it. This has never once happened in my family history and we believe it's an important part of mother-child bonding.

Does your family have any unique methods of curing say a cold? Do you believe in medical doctors and psychiatrists when your are sick or are you like my family where everything is cured with herbs? That kind of thing. Hope that helps :)