Conceptions of Health and Disease among Spanish-Americans

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. This paper presents some conceptions of health and disease as perceived by Spanish-American villagers. An attempt is made to provide a framework which can be used to consider disease prevention, causation, diagnosis, treatment and the general health orientation of the Spanish-Americans. Emphasis is placed on the extra-human factors involved in these health conceptions and the suggestion is made that an important religious component is a central theme which must be taken into consideration when discussing etiological factors, preventive measures, diagnostic perceptions and therapeutic procedures as perceived by this population. Studies published in recent years have described in detail various

Influence of Self-Care Education on Illness Behaviors and Health Locus of Control of Mexican American Women

“…Samora (1978) suggests that religion is a major factor affecting Mexican Americans' responses to life situations, including health and illness issues. Since a higher power directs life events, submission and acceptance is common.…”

Determining the adequacy of a health promotion self‐care interview guide with healthy, middle‐aged, Mexican American women: A pilot study

“…Familism is a core characteristic of all subgroups of the Hispanic culture, including Mexican Americans (Sabogal et al, 1987) and especially Mexican American women (Cousins et al, 1992). Samora (1978) identified religion as a central factor affecting Mexican Americans' responses to life situations, including those related to health and illness. It is believed because God is the Creator of the Universe, His will directs life's events.…”

Issues in Access to Health Care: The Undocumented Mexican Resident in Richmond, California

“…Home health care and traditional healers are popular among the undocumented population (Clark 1959;Samora 1961). Traditional Mexican culture includes a complex set of beliefs and practices relating to disease, cures, health maintenance, and health-care practitioners.…”