Post on 20-Jan-2016
transcript
Cultural responses to Wellness
Cristina S. Barroso, DrPHUniversity of Texas School of Public Health, Brownsville Regional CampusPresented at the Texas Association of School Based Health Centers14th Annual Child & Adolescent ConferenceFebruary 12, 2010
What is culture?What is wellness?
WHAT IS PUBLIC HEALTH?
Public Health
• The science and practice of protecting and improving the health of a community, as by preventive medicine, health education, control of communicable diseases, application of sanitary measures, and monitoring of environmental hazards.
The American Heritage Dictionary
Public Health System of the 21st Century
Mgmt Care Orgs
Home Health
Parks
Economic Development
Mass Transit
Employers
Nursing Homes
Mental HealthDrug
Treatment
Civic GroupsCHCs
Laboratory Facilities
Hospitals
EMS Community Centers
Doctors
Health Dept
Churches
Philanthropist
Elected Officials
Tribal Health
Schools
Police
Fire
Corrections
Environmental Health
Lloyd Kolbe, 2007
Community
• Functional spatial units that meet basic needs for sustenance
• Units of patterned social interaction
• Symbolic units of collective identity
• People coming together to act politically to make changes
Hunter, 1975; Eng & Parker, 1994
Community = Multidimensional System
• People & organizations
• Consciousness
• Actions
• Contexts
Socio-Ecological framework
Mission of Public Health
• “…fulfilling society’s interest in assuring conditions in which people can be healthy…”
IOM, 1988
Principles of Community Well-Being
• Focus is community
• Organized efforts to identify “problems”
• Decisions on how to address “problems”
Principles of Community Well-Being
• Decisions on who will take action
• Power to decide & take action is within the community
• Community participation/engagement is key
Principles of Community Well-Being
• Social Cohesion/social capital is necessary to create & sustain actions
• Social cohesion (glue): on-going process of developing a community of shared values, shared challenges & equal opportunity
• Social capital: “resource” for public good
Community Building• Community is created or built, or not,
with:• Actions• Consciousness concerning ourselves,
others, & issues• Relationships
• Interchange between members; which changes them within the course of coming together
Healthy, Wealthy, & Wise!
Cultural Diversity
• We All Have It!
• Obvious manifestations• Ethnicity/race• Language• Gender• Religion
Cultural Diversity• Less obvious manifestations– Age
– Education
– Occupation
– Economic status
– Sexual orientation
– Disabilities
What is Culture?• Total sum of the way
of living– Values
– Beliefs
– Standards
– Language
– Thinking patterns
– Behavioral norms
– Communications styles
• Guides decisions & actions of a “group” through time
Expression of Culture in Health Beliefs
• Defines & categorizes health & illness
• Offers explanatory models for health & illness
• Defines the specific scope of practice for interventionists (prevention, healers)
WHAT IS CULTURAL SENSITIVITY?