4.2: Cultural Factors Affecting Health and Disease
- Page ID
- 49269
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In order to improve the health behaviors of the community, cultural factors affecting health behavior and health care services need to be clearly recognized [12, 13].
The individuals’ beliefs about health, attitudes and behaviors, past experiences, treatment practices, in short their culture, play a vital role in improving health, preventing and treating diseases [14].
Cultural variables can be motivational factors in health-disease relationships, [8].
Cultural factors/variables can be listed as in the following list
- Socioeconomic status
- Family pattern
- Gender roles and responsibilities
- Marriage patterns
- Sexual behavior
- Preventive patterns
- Population policy
- Pregnancy and birth practices
- Body
- Nutrition
- Dressing/wearing
- Personal hygiene
- Housing arrangements
- General health regulations
- Professions
- Religion
- Habits
- Culture-induced stress
- Status of immigrants
- Substance use
- Leisure time habits of
- Pets and birds
- Self-healing strategies and therapies [8].