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Cultural Constructions of Health and Illness

Recent Cultural Changes toward a Holistic Approach

University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston School of Nursing

Nurses have defined their domain as holistic with a focus of promoting health. Cultural conceptualizations of health and illness have been changing toward a more complex understanding enriched by perspectives from many disciplines. Health, a more holistic concept than disease, has invited expanded cognitive constructions that accommodate an understanding of the biology, environment, social position, and the role of the mind, culture, spirituality, race, and sex. These have changed our metaphors of the body and expanded the focus to the health-illness experience. These areas are discussed with implications for nursing.

Key Words: context of health care • cultural constructions • multidisciplinary • holistic • health and illness

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