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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Journal of Health and Allied Sciences NU 2013; 03(04): 108-113
DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1703714
Short Communication

CHANGING HEALTH CULTURE AND MEDICAL PLURALISM IN THE RURAL CONTEXT: A CONFRONTATION OR A PUZZLE ?

Nanjunda
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Abstract

The health culture, and medical pluralism have a long history. Over the last 100 years many concepts, theories, findings have been given for the better understanding of health culture of human beings and the role of the society being. The majority of the theoretical approaches relating to the health and illness originally propounded by the western sociologists. Even today researchers in developing countries are heavily depending on western theories to explain sociology of health culture and medical pluralism. In developing countries, social class, caste, gender plays a vital role in accessing to suitable healthcare facilities. More than these the underlying political and economic forces also counts a lot. It is found that health culture, and medical pluralism are significantly helps us in better understanding people's concepts about onset of various diseases and its cure in a cross cultural framework. Right from the history, sociologists are attempting to find out how social and cultural factors influences in understanding of illness and diseases. The sociologists are also probing how social, economic, and cultural factors the acting and the choosing different health care system (pluralism). With this background this paper is to reveal authors personal experiences working on different health projects in several villages of Karnataka state south India. This paper concludes that health culture and medical pluralism in the rural part have largley been influenced by the emerging social and cultural factors under aegis of globalization in a new direction whhic requires new discourse.

Keywords

Health - Culture - Disease - Rural - Pluralism


Publication History

Article published online:
26 April 2020

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Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Private Ltd.
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