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Cultural Beliefs and Medical Beliefs
Hispanics/Latinos

Some Hispanic people believe that disease is caused by an imbalance between hot and cold principles. Health is maintained by avoiding exposure to extreme temperatures and by consuming appropriate foods and beverages. Examples of “hot” diseases or states are pregnancy, hypertension, diabetes, and indigestion. “Cold” disease examples include menstrual cramps, pneumonia, and colic. The goal of treatment is to restore balance. “Cold” diseases are treated with “hot” remedies, and vice versa. Inter- and intra-group variations exist with regard to beliefs about the hot and cold theory of disease.

Traditional medicine in most Hispanic countries has an extensive list of folk remedies. Examples include using garlic to treat hypertension and cough; chamomile to treat nausea, gas, colic, and anxiety; a purgative tea combined with stomach massage to cure lack of appetite, stomach pains, or diarrhea; and peppermint to treat dyspepsia and gas. Providers may encounter the concept of a bilongo or hex, for which the proper diagnosis and treatment require consulting a santero/santera or healer. The evil eye (mal de ojo) appears in several Hispanic cultures. In children, it is thought to cause vomiting, fever, crying, and restlessness. It is believed to be brought on by an admiring look from a person with a strong eye. It can be diagnosed and treated with a barrida (Puerto Rico) or limpia (Mexico)—a sweeping of the body with eggs, lemons, and bay leaves, accompanied by prayer.

Native Americans/American Indian/Alaska Natives

Some Native Americans/American Indian/Alaska Natives believe that healing will result from sacred ceremonies that rely on having visions and using plants and objects that may be symbolic of the individual, the illness, or the treatment.

Traditional Navajo medicine includes chanting, prayer, sand painting, dancing, and herbs. Many Native American tribes turn to the sweat lodge to cure a variety of physical and emotional ills.

Native American herbal medicine is widely used by alternative medical practitioners. Examples include the use of echinacea, goldenseal, and burdock.

Asians

Chinese medicine is a complex and well-established therapeutic tradition that uses acupuncture, acupressure, and herbs, often in combination with dietary therapy, Western medicine, and supernatural healing. Clients may be reluctant to say that they have been using these approaches to treat their illness, fearing the disapproval of Western health care providers. Chinese and Cambodian medicine classifies food, illness, and medications according to the perceived effects on the body, as “hot” or “cold.” (This approach is also true of the ayurvedic system of medicine, widely used among people of Indian and Chinese descent.) Illness is due to excess consumption of “hot” or “cold” foods, wind and other environmental factors, emotional states, and sexual activity, and may be remedied by such treatment as restoring the balance of foods in the diet. Many fruits and vegetables are considered “cold,” while meat is considered “hot.” A woman who gives birth is thought to lose body heat, which must be replaced by eating hot soups for at least six weeks.

Some Chinese may believe that illness is a result of moral retribution by ancestors or deities due to a person’s misdeeds or negligence. Rituals are performed to appease this anger. Other health beliefs that may be held by patients from this group include cosmic disharmony due to a poor combination of year of birth, month of birth, day of birth, and time of birth, and poor Feng Shui—improper placement of objects inside a room or orientation of the room or house itself (north, south, east, or west).

Some Chinese and Cambodians believe in interference from malevolent spirits. Spiritual healers are sought for illnesses thought to be caused by spirits.

Some Cambodians may cup, pinch, coin, or rub an ill person’s skin to treat a range of ailments. For cupping, a cup is heated and then placed on the skin, usually on the forehead or abdomen. As it cools, the cup contracts, drawing the skin and what is believed to be the evil energy or “air” into the cup. This causes a skin alteration or scar. Pinching is done by pinching the skin between the thumb and index finger to the point of producing a contusion at the base of the nose, between the eyes, or on the chest, neck, or back. Coining is the rubbing of the skin with the side of a coin, causing striations or ecchymoses. It is important that these techniques not automatically be labeled as abuse without further culturally sensitive investigation.

Pacific Islanders

Some Pacific Islanders believe that illness and other misfortune can be attributed to the loss of mana, defined as special power or life force. Healing requires the restoration of the imbalance of mana through analysis of damaged relationships with one’s self, the extended family, ancestors, the environment, or one’s spirituality.

The ideal concept of health has four components: the spiritual, psychological, physical, and the relationship with the family. All four elements must be incorporated into any treatment regimen.

Some Pacific Islanders believe that the traditional food called taro holds great mana. Storytelling may be used as a therapeutic method of teaching and healing. Restoring health may involve a search into the cause of the problem, open expression of feelings by all concerned, expressions of apology, and the asking of forgiveness.

Eastern Europeans

Traditional healing approaches include treatments using teas, herbs, grasses, and ointments. Coughs and congestion are relieved by the inhalation of the steam from chamomile tea. Honey and pollen are consumed to ensure longevity.

Some Eastern Europeans may cup, pinch, coin, or rub an ill person’s skin to treat a range of ailments. For cupping, a cup is heated and then placed on the skin, usually on the forehead or abdomen. As it cools, the cup contracts, drawing the skin and what is believed to be the evil energy or “air” into the cup. This causes a skin alteration or scar. Pinching is done by pinching the skin between the thumb and index finger to the point of producing a contusion at the base of the nose, between the eyes, or on the chest, neck, or back. Coining is the rubbing of the skin with the side of a coin, causing striations or ecchymoses. It is important that these techniques not automatically be labeled as abuse without further culturally sensitive investigation.

Sub-Saharan Africans

Many Eritreans strongly believe in the healing powers of different plants, particularly roots. They also believe in the power of some plants to ward off snakes and to cure them from snakebites. Some Eritreans return to their country when they are ill in order to receive this traditional healing.

Folk medical therapeutic burning (moxibustion), has been observed in children from East Africa. Burns along the abdomen, wrists, elbows, and ankles may be administered to treat any cause of jaundice. Among some people from East Africa, burning is also used to treat abdominal problems resulting from the “evil eye.” These burn injuries are clearly inscribed, appearing like cigarette burns. They could be confused with abusive injuries if the family’s cultural beliefs and native country's medical practices are not considered. In the traditional Oromo culture of Ethiopia, illness and misfortune may be considered a punishment from Waaqa for sins a person has committed, and the “evil eye” may be seen as a malevolent influence caused by an individual and resulting in disease, especially in vulnerable young infants.

For some Somalis, traditional medicine modalities include fire-burning, herbal remedies, spell-casting, and prayer. Fire-burning is a procedure where a stick from a special tree is heated till it glows and then applied to the skin in order to cure the illness. Seizures are treated with herbs and readings from the Koran. Stomachaches and backaches are treated with the herb known as habakhedi, while rashes and sore throats are treated with a tea made from the herb dinse. Traditional doctors also cure illnesses caused by spirits, such as fever, headache, dizziness, and weakness. The illness is cured by a healing ceremony designed to appease the spirits. These ceremonies involve reading the Koran, eating special foods, and burning incense. In many African cultures the concept of the “evil eye” is part of the belief systems of some people. It is believed that a person can give someone else an evil eye either purposefully or inadvertently by directing comments of praise at that person, thereby causing harm or illness to befall them. For example, one does not tell a person that she looks beautiful, because that could bring on the evil eye. Similarly, many Somali mothers cringe when they are told that their babies are big and fat, out of fear the evil eye will cause something bad to happen to their child. It is more acceptable to say that the child is “healthy.”

http://erc.msh.org/mainpage.cfm?file=5.3.0.htm&module=provider&language=English

http://www.modernmedicine.com/modern-medicine/content/cultural-beliefs-effect-care?page=full

Leininger, M. 1995. Transcultural Nursing: Theories, Concepts, and Practices. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Spector, RE. Cultural Diversity in Health and Illness. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2000.