Abstract
Patients' cultural beliefs may affect acceptance of health care, compliance, and treatment outcomes. This article discusses cultural views of health and illness, folk beliefs and customs, cultural barriers to care, and alternative health-care systems, with particular emphasis on Mexican Americans and African Americans, including curanderismo, rootwork, and voodoo. Physicians who wish to provide appropriate and acceptable care in a cross-cultural setting should integrate these beliefs with conventional medicine.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 160-166 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | American Journal of the Medical Sciences |
Volume | 306 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 1 1993 |
Keywords
- African Americans
- Cross-cultural medicine
- Hispanics
- Mexican Americans
- curanderismo
- folk medicine
- physician- patient relations
- rootwork
- voodoo
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Medicine(all)