Cultural Differences Between Health And Social Care

Health can generally mean different things for people across the globe or even within one community. For some, as long as they do not have a serious illness they consider themselves healthy. For others it can specifically mean the combination of diet and exercise. The most common definition of health is given by World Health Organization WHO and it means “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely absence of disease or infirmity” (as cited in Little, 2014). Health is not viewed the same by people of different gender, ethnic group and even socioeconomic status; therefore, there are some disparities among separate groups. I live in a very multi-cultural city where we have big population of Asian, South Asian, European

And in the US income, education and livings conditions contribute to people’s well-being. A lot of low-income families and elderly living on Social Security do not have ability to pay for insurance as it is common for employer not provide free health insurance. Without access to doctors and medication as people can’t afford, poor quality of health is noticeable for low-income

Stigmatized illness can bring shame on people with certain diseases making it hard for them to socialize and even seek help (Little, 2014). Certain types of cancer like colon cancer can create embarrassment, skin conditions like psoriasis, bowel diseases, obesity, erectile dysfunction, HIV and AIDS (Live Science, 2011) are among the most stigmatized illnesses. People may feel fear, sadness, and guilt or that they are being avoided, as others can catch their disease. I think least stigmatized diseases are physical disability, heart diseases and breast cancer.

Health and illness are viewed differently in separate cultures and even social classes as we perceive others through the filter or perspective of our own culture. For instance, before I move to the US I have never heard of bipolar disorder, narcolepsy or Tourette syndrome. Certain illnesses like depression, obesity or narcolepsy are not viewed the same in other cultures and can be associated with laziness, lacking discipline, unmotivated, not a true disorder, made up in the patients head, or as people just simply seeking