Models of Health Beliefs in South India: Impact on Managing Childhood Nutritional Illnesses

Abstract

In several societies, culture-specific models of health co-exist with modern science-based medicine, and influence the way people manage their health. When people from such communities immigrate elsewhere, they often continue to retain their traditional health beliefs and practices. If national health programs are not inclusive of this phenomenon, then they are likely to fail in reaching their goals of healthcare for all. This chapter begins by tracing the beliefs and treatments in healthcare systems prevalent in different regions around the world. In the Indian subcontinent community, systems of traditional codified medicine such as Ayurveda and Siddha continue to influence peoples' health related decisions. The chapter continues with descriptions of the findings from case studies conducted in the region of south India on mothers' reasoning about childhood malnutrition, which is one of the major problems influencing child health. The relevance of the findings are then contextualized within a larger framework of understanding human health behavior, planning appropriate theory based interventions, including the use of technological support.