1 Dr. Babar T Shaikh The Aga Khan University, Karachi Society, Culture & Health Care system

2 If anything was made to be taken for granted, it is ‘culture’. Gallagher and Subedi, 1995

3 Culture The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought. These patterns, traits, and products considered as the expression of a particular period, class, community, or population. The predominating attitudes and behavior that characterize the functioning of a group or organization.

4 Culture contd… Intellectual and artistic activity and the works produced by it. Development of the intellect through training or education. Enlightenment resulting from such training or education. A high degree of taste and refinement formed by aesthetic and intellectual training.

5 Culture contd… 1. a particular civilization at a particular stage 2. the tastes in art and manners that are favored by a social group 3. all the knowledge and values shared by a society WordNet ® 1.6, © 1997 Princeton University

6 Culture contd… The act of, or any labor or means employed for, training, disciplining, or refining the moral and intellectual nature of man; as, the culture of the mind. The Webster's Dictionary

7 Characteristics of ‘Culture’ Culture is ‘symbolic’ Culture is ‘learned’ Culture is ‘shared’ Culture is ‘adaptive’

8 Symbols Ideology Language Religion Values Mass Media Norms ‘Cultural Lag’ Folklore Elements of ‘Culture’

9 Global Culture Ethnocentrism Cultural hegemony Cultural relativism

10 A set of cultural beliefs underlying health seeking and health promoting behavior. Institutional arrangements within which that behavior occurs. Socio-economic, political, and physical context of these beliefs and institutions. Health System Institutional arrangements include family, community, health care services, and other related sectors. Health and the Health Care System

11 HEALTH SYSTEM WOULD INCLUDE:  Cultural beliefs and practices  Environmental conditions  Nutrition  Water supply  Education  Housing  Status of women  Social structure  Economic / political systems Health and the Health Care System

12 Health and the Health Care System Health Care System: a part of the health system - one aspect of the institutional arrangements. Health: Full development of the human potential. A fundamental right? Freedom from unnecessary illness and premature death is a fundamental prerequisite for development. Health and development: intricately interrelated. Health is both a condition and a product of development. Health: the role of healthy public policy.

13 HEALTH ENVIRONMENT ECONOMY Viability Sustainability Equity Health (full development of the human potential) requires both an adequate economy and a viable environment.

14 Social Environment Physical Environment Biological Endowment Individual Responses IllnessHealth Care Health Status Productivity & Wealth __ + Determinants of health