Sociocultural determinants of health and illness: a theoretical inquiry
This article articulates the hypothesis that people do not perceive health as a single dimensional phenomenon of a physical absence of disease. In contrast, health can be determined by multi-dimensional factors that include people’s lifestyle, their perception of health and illness, and their heal...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)
2014
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/37561/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/37561/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/37561/1/2_Sociocultural_determinants_2014.pdf |
| Summary: | This article articulates the hypothesis that people do not perceive health as a single dimensional phenomenon of
a physical absence of disease. In contrast, health can be determined by multi-dimensional factors that include
people’s lifestyle, their perception of health and illness, and their health-seeking behaviour. By exploring
available literature it highlights some of the studies which have generated mixed results and describes various
social and cultural factors learnt across the research processes including the evidence that effective
communication between doctors and patients can improve health outcomes such as patient satisfaction, patient
adherence to treatment, and disease outcomes. Social support generally shows a favourable impact on the
maintenance of health and coping with stress and illness. Patients who obtained social support from family
members and friends were found to be more cooperative with their attending doctors and nurses in learning
about their future and in understanding the meaning of life.
Keywords: health, illness, sociocultural determinants, socioeconomic position, social support, stress |
|---|