Culture and Health: Understanding Explanatory Models and Illness Perceptions

Culture and Health 1
CULTURE AND HEALTH
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Culture and Health
Explanatory model is a theoretical model that offers a way of comprehending the
procedure in which disease is interpreted, patterned, as well as managed. The explanatory model
is described as the ideas regarding an occurrence of illness besides its treatment, which is used
by those individuals connected in the clinical procedure. The model provide an explanation of
sickness along with treatment that direct choices amongst accessible resources plus that cast
personal, as well as social implication on the incident of illness (Kirmayer & Sartorius, 2007, pp.
833). Kleinman differentiates between the explanatory models and general beliefs regarding
sickness and health care; explanatory models are constituted in reaction to specific disease
episode. The explanatory model generally offers explanations of diverse elements of the disease
that include etiology; timing and mode of onset signs and symptoms; pathophysiology, course of
disease, comprising extent of severity and kind of sick role; treatment matters; and challenges
and fears linked to the disease.
In his latest work, Kleinman (1988b) concentrates on the disease or illness narratives of
patients that suffer from chronic illness or pain. The narrative is employed by the chronically ill
individual to fashion a meaning and to offer order on episodes and experiences; it is recreated
and reviewed according to the changes over some given time. The disease narrative is a story the
patients narrates, and significant others tell, to offer consistency to the distinct events plus long-
standing course of suffering (Dein, 2004, pp. 119). Because of long and regular capricious course
of chronic disease, the illness narrative works not only to reflect the disease experience;
however, to influence and even fashion experience among the patients suffering from the specific
illness. Kleinman recommends that diverse elements of health care in the society can be viewed
as cultural system, which is a scheme of symbolic implications founded on specific organizations

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of social institutions along with patterns of interpersonal interfaces. This implies that the health
care systems can be conceptualized as the blend of beliefs regarding disease, healing actions,
ideas about along with expectations of treatment, clinical environments, as well as institutions,
roles along with status relationships (Würtzen, Dalton & Christensen, 2015, pp. 713).
The explanatory model best fits the explanation regarding breast lump to signify breast
cancer among women in the society. Contemporary empirical study in behavioral medicine
established the conceptual of “illness perceptions” being an important aspect in understanding
and dealing with explanatory models about patients. Thus, disease perceptions are described as
the cognitive and emotional representations of disease and symptoms. A female who considers
that cancer is due to stress along with feelings would not attend a breast cancer treatment and
screening. This is attributed to the cultural belief that the breast cancer cannot be cured by any
medical intervention, which means that the woman will not seek any medical intervention. The
woman believes that the breast cancer testing will not eliminate stress. Women that consider that
the breast cancer condition will not be treated or managed successfully will remain at home
when the chemotherapy program in the health care facility is planned. Therefore, a doctor who
tells the female who never attends chemotherapy that they are incorrect misses being
comprehended by laymen as well as will miss the actuality. On the other side, a physician who
studies the sickness perceptions of the females with cancer and tries to modify the perceptions
into additional adaptive beliefs as well as feelings is most probable triumphant in mounting
attendance at cancer testing along with breast cancer management (Dein, 2004, pp. 120).
To better understand the manner the explanatory works, a study was undertaken by
Harrow et al. (2008) on females with the cancer of breast. The study was designed in a manner
that asked the females with cancer to characterize their breast cancer utilizing clay. These