Toward a theory of therapeutic syncretism: the Southeast Asian experience : a study of the Cambodians' use of traditional and cosmopolitan health systems

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Title Toward a theory of therapeutic syncretism: the Southeast Asian experience : a study of the Cambodians' use of traditional and cosmopolitan health systems
Publication Type dissertation
School or College College of Nursing
Department Nursing
Author Crow, Georgia Karine
Date 1988-08
Description This study examines the Cambodian refugees' use of traditional and cosmopolitan (American) health care systems, as well as state and city/county health department nurses' perceptions of the refugees use of the cosmopolitan system. Data were collected through the use of observation as participant methodology. Cultural information on the actual household health practices, definition of illness, etiology of illness, treatment preference and sequence, major health concerns with appropriate intervention and conceptualization of an ideal culturally appropriate health intervention are presented. Forty-one families were contacted with 35 of these families participating in the study; the total number of adults was 175. Other participants were two Krus (traditional healers) and a monk. Twenty-five community health nurses also participated. Results of this study indicate that the Cambodian refugees' use of both health care systems suggests consistency with their cultural matrices for defining health and its maintenance. In conceptualizing this use of health care modalities, a theoretical framework (therapeutic syncretism) is proposed. This framework is a coherent, rationally purposive, phenomenologically ongoing dynamic, consisting of ambiguous, coexisting elements foreign to each other (traditional and cosmopolitan), standing side by side, without attempting to reconcile or give priority to either one. Not only is this decision making activity shown to be rooted in Cambodian culture but it is an integral part of a broader Wetansuchauung, due to the refugee experience. Therapeutic syncretism is a natural part of the cognitive adjustment and coping strategy adopted to maintain health.
Type Text
Publisher University of Utah
Subject Nursing; United States; Cambodia; Methods; Chinese Traditional Medicine; Indigenous Health Services
Subject MESH Cross-Cultural Comparison; Delivery of Health Care; Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Public Health Nursing
Dissertation Institution University of Utah
Dissertation Name PhD
Language eng
Relation is Version of Digital reproduction of "Toward a theory of therapeutic syncretism: the Southeast Asian experience: a study of the Cambodian's use of traditional and cosmopolitan health systems". Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library
Rights Management © Georgia Karine Crow
Format application/pdf
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 5,519,650 bytes
Identifier undthes,4201
Source Original: University of Utah Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library (no longer available)
Funding/Fellowship DHEW Professional Nurse Traineeship, American Nurses' Association Minority Fellowship, and a Nursing Scholarship from the University of Utah's College of Nursing.
Master File Extent 5,519,759 bytes
ARK ark:/87278/s60v8fk5
Setname ir_etd
ID 190870
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s60v8fk5
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