Cultural Views on Health Essay Example

People from different cultures have their own perspectives on health and disease. Some cultures believe in using traditional medicine, and some believe in the healing power of praying and herbal healing. People are often affected by their own cultural beliefs when it comes to overcoming diseases and how they can find the right cure. Sometimes, religion and cultural beliefs get in the way of receiving proper medical help. Greeks prefer to be treated by praying rather than by a medical professional at a medical facility because they believe more in natural healing rather than in traditional. “The belief that illness grows from emotional, moral, and social causes coexists with the formal medical system. Folk healers, generally women, are sometimes called upon to use spells, divination, and herbal remedies to fight against both sickness and such forces as the evil eye” (Sutton, 2007, Greeks, para. 4). Although, there are a few cultures that believe that natural remedies should not be used in the twenty-first century where medicine and the whole world has advanced and improved in many ways. People believe that advanced technology is able to diagnose and cure when herbal remedies fail to work. “The practice of Western medicine is as firmly established in Puerto Rico as it is throughout much of the United States even though the Latin American and Caribbean traditions continue to provide solutions where Western medicine is weak, especially in the realm of prevention. “Curanderos” and “brujas”, also known as native curers and witches in Spanish, are still prevalent throughout that island and they are known to often mix religious ritual and Western medicines with herbal remedies in their cures” (Griffith, 2007, Religion and Expressive Culture, para. 5). Medical decisions are now mostly based on scientific researches. Organic perspective is also based on scientific research and notes that the absence of germs means a healthy body. Researches are supposed to