The Cultural Context of Health, Illness, and Medicine: [Paperback]

Martha O. Loustaunau (Author), Elisa J. Sobo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0897895487 | ISBN-13: 978-0897895484

Summarizing the vast literature on culture and caring in a lively and jargon-free fashion, sociologist Martha O. Loustaunau and anthropologist Elisa J. Sobo introduce readers to the practice of culturally sensitive health care. With engaging examples, they describe the special approaches that sociologists and anthropologists take to health, clearly illustrating Loustaunau and Sobo demonstrate the ways in which cultural and social factors shape medicine and health care. After a discussion of culture, the social structure and the impact of poverty, class, gender and family patterns on health, illness and care-seeking, they explain the similarities and differences of medical systems cross-culturally. The authors call for a more flexible and culturally sensitive system of health care that expresses caring in more holistic ways, and offer examples of how this might be accomplished in an increasingly multicultural USA. Clinicians are cautioned against making ethnocentric value judgments and encouraged to recognize patient behaviors that are culturally patterned. Current issues discussed include HIV/AIDS, ethics, alternative medicine, political and economic forces, and the high cost of health care today, all with regard to cultural context.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The authors use no jargon and require little or no background in the social sciences to achieve an understanding of health and illness from a social science perspective. General readers and undergraduates.”–Choice

“...Loustaunau and Sobo do an impressive job of indentifying and untangling the myriad elements that compose American health care, from both a health-seeking and health-providing perspective....An 'Introduction to Medical Anthropology' course syllabus that includes The The Cultural Context of Health, Illness, and Medicine and the recently published Understanding and Applying Medical Anthropology (Brown, 1998) would offer students a comprehensive foray into the field and critically position them to understand the complexities of health, health care and wellness both at home and abroad.”–Transcultural Psychiatry

“A very readable introductory text dealing with the sociocultural aspects of health.”–Sociocultural Anthropology

“A very thorough and comprehensive text to introduce students and practitioners to the rich insights about health and medical care which have come out of research in medical sociology and anthropology. This book will provide laypeople as well as professionals with a deeper and much-needed undestanding of the varieties of beliefs and behaviors which influence health and health care.”–Judith N. Lasker Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Lehigh University

“Over the years, there have been several texts which introduce the reader to the fields of medical sociology or medical anthropology, but none have been as successful in bringing the two fields together in as clear and engaging a manner as this book....This book will undoubtedly become standard reading for medical students, physicians and other health care providers who serve multicultural, medically underserved populations.”–Lawrence A. Palinkas, Ph.D. Professor of Family and Preventive Medicine University of California, San Diego

Review

"Sobo and Loustaunau have done a splendid job in providing a concise, engaging, informative, and very readable introduction to the fields of medical anthropology and medical sociology. A successful synthesis of socio-behavioral science, health services, and public health knowledge which advances the field and should help to improve the quality of care and health outcomes experienced by our increasingly diverse population. This is a valuable text that I greatly enjoyed and highly recommend for use in undergraduate courses; medical, nursing, and public health schools; and other health professions training programs that are interested in transformative education that makes a difference."

(

Robert C. Like, MD, MS, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Bergin & Garvey Paperback (November 30, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0897895487
• ISBN-13: 978-0897895484
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,622,407 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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