AboutAnil Expertise Indian culture could be a subject for a lifetime, but I can answer general questions regarding the Indian culture. I can answer questions relating to relationships, family, religion, and education in the context of the Indian culture.I have lived in the US for about 10 years and therefore can answer some cross-culture type questions.
Experience I was born and raised in India. I lived in India for about 25 years before I came to the US. I lived in the US for 10 years, but in those ten years, I had closed ties in India, so I am quite familiar with the Indian culture and the mainstream Indian society. I have always been fascinated by culture and diversity, so I can give a critical analysis of some of the cross cultural issues. I have conducted culture related training programs to educate visitors to India.
Expert: Anil Date: 4/14/2008 Subject: cultural related to health
Question I am working on a project for nursing school and I am having a hard time finding what cultural practices would relate to health. I did find the births outside of hospitals may lead to higher birth mortality rates. If you could tell me ant other cultural practices that would affect or relate to health it would be a great help. Thanks
Answer Hi Amanda,
Before I answer your question, I am going to make an assumption. I assume that you are from the US. I make this assumption and then tailor the response accordingly.
With the exception of few of the cities, for the most part, India is till a very patriarchal society, and most of the decisions are made either by the father/husband/son/father-in-law. Therefore, many of the decisions, even though they actually pertain to the health of the women, they seem to have a less say in it.
Based on my stay in the US, I could observe the following differences in the healthcare area:
1. In the US, the patients view the doctor as a professional. Which means, there is a sense of entitlement once the appropriate fees are paid. The doctor is just merely doing his job (for which he is paid). However, in India, in most places doctors enjoy a very respected status (as if he is god). Which means you don't question him/her a lot, you talk with lot of respect, etc etc
2. In the US, when doctors recommend a vegetarian diet, its mostly based on more technical reasoning. However, in India, vegetarian or non-vegetarian is influenced by the healthcare practitioner’s religion.
3. In the US, I am not aware of the problems created by top government officials, business leaders etc. Over in India, dealing with company executives, top government officials, and business leaders are a big nuisance value. They expect lot of preferential treatment, they would interfere with the treatment by introducing their people(may or may not be doctors) in the equation.
4. In terms of gender bias, male children are given more attention (by parents) than female. It is very sad to see gender discrimination in healthcare. Although, the government bans it, female feticide in India is very high. And it’s entirely a function of the culture.
I would be very interested in reading about your findings. I would appreciate if you could mail a copy to me at my email address "alisha_kale@yahoo.com"
