Culture and Health

Catalog description

The use of complementary medicine practices as an enhancement to traditional Western medicine has become a common practice. This course will explore health knowledge, health behavior, social institutions and practices related to health, and the nature of health risk through the concept of culture. Varying definitions of health, well-being, understanding of health risk, illness causation and treatment theories, and healing curing traditions will be explored. The origins, uses, and effectiveness of complementary medicine practices such as cupping, Reike, qi gong, acupuncture, and meditation will be discussed. This course may be offered in a distance education format.