PhD Scientific Days 2017

Oral Presentations: Mental Health

Cultural dispositions leading to complementary and alternative medicine use a medical anthropological analysis

Előadó neve

Zörgő, Szilvia

Előadó munkahelye

Institute of Behavioural Sciences, Semmelweis University, Budapest

Előadó telefonszáma

06 30 86 22 466

Előadó e-mail címe

zorgoszilvia@gmail.com

Az előadás címe

Cultural dispositions leading to complementary and alternative medicine use a medical anthropological analysis

Szerző(k) neve és munkahelye

Szilvia Zörgő, Dr. Ágnes Zana
Institute of Behavioural Sciences, Semmelweis University, Budapest

Szekció

Oral Presentations: Mental Health

Data of the presenter

Doctoral School: Mental Health Sciences
Program: Mental Health Sciences
Supervisor: Dr. Ágnes Zana
Email address: zorgoszilvia@gmail.com

Text of the abstract

Introduction:
In the milieu of medical pluralism, alternative medical systems signify subcultures with discrete concepts of world, man and illness. In these subcultures, the patient may encounter their already existing cultural norms or, in the process of enculturation, identify with the norms of the behavioral environment. The presentation strives to describe some cultural dispositions that are characteristic of a preference for complementary and alternative medicine, as well as pinpoint the effects of these perceptual tendencies in therapy choice. Understanding these dispositions sheds more light on the process of therapy choice and the subjective evaluation of therapeutic efficacy.

Methods:
The presented results are based on a medical anthropological investigation taking place at clinics of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Budapest (location 1: Sept. 2014 – April 2016: 370 hrs; location 2: Dec. 2016 – Jan. 2017: 15 hrs; location 3: Feb. 2017 – present). This qualitative research project comprises participant observation (involving patients N=181; men N=79, mean age=49) and in-depth interviews with patients (N=6) and physicians (N=7). Interviews were coded with Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and all data collected during research is pooled employing Atlas.ti software.

Results:
There are several dispositions (perceptual / behavioral tendencies) behind complementary and alternative medicine use; they play a crucial role in decision-making processes concerning health-related questions. Such a disposition is the preference for the “natural”, which oftentimes leads to, or is coupled with a strong attitude against medication. Another frequent disposition is that of “holistic thinking”, which may lead to a sole preference for medical systems that incorporate the affective domain.

Conclusion:
Discussing complementary and alternative medicine use along the lines of cultural dispositions provides a more in-depth understanding of therapy choice. Such an analysis offers a socio-cultural and psychological context, which, in the case of the two elaborated perceptual tendencies, is strongly connected to the patient’s definition of self.

Kind

Szabad

Előadás fájl jóváhagyás

nem rendelkezett róla

Előadó

1121

Authors (legacy)

Szilvia Zörgő, Dr. Ágnes Zana
Institute of Behavioural Sciences, Semmelweis University, Budapest