Abstract
Culture has a tremendous influence on all aspects of health, healthcare and health-seeking behaviors. As such, discourses of health in Africa are incomplete without the contextualization of African cultural discourse. Using a macroanalytic approach, this chapter presents a broad account of African cultures and their impacts on health. Traditions, customs, values, norms and practices that are distinct aspects of the African peoples and great influence human health. Often, addressing health challenges begins with resolving certain culture-related issues, which constitute some medical and quantified determinants of health.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Abubakar, A., & Kitsao-Wekulo, P. (2015). Gender and health inequalities in sub-Saharan Africa: the case of HIV. In S. Safdar & N. Kosakowska-Berezecka (Eds), Psychology of gender through the lens of culture (pp. 395–408). Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
Abubakar, A., Van Baar, A., Fischer, R., Bomu, G., Gona, J. K., Newton, C. R. (2013). Socio-cultural determinants of health-seeking behaviour on the Kenyan coast: a qualitative study. PLoS One, 8(11), e71998. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0071998.
Amzat, J., & Grandi, G. (2011). Gender context of personalism in bioethics. Developing World Bioethics, 11(3), 136–145.
Amzat, J., & Olutayo, O. A. (2009). Nigeria, capitalism and the question of equity. The Anthropologist, 11(4), 239–246.
Amzat, J., & Razum, O. (2014). Medical Sociology in Africa. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
Betancourt, J. R., Green, A. R., Carrillo, J. E. (2002). Cultural competence in healthcare: emerging frameworks and practical approaches. New York: The Commonwealth Fund.
Bode, M. (2011). The transformations of disease in expert and lay medical cultures. Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine, 2(1), 14–20.
Boeke, J. H. (1953). Economics and economic policy of dual societies. New York: International Secretariat, Institute of Pacific Relations.
Carpiano, R. M. (2006). Toward a neighborhood resource-based theory of social capital for health: can Bourdieu and sociology help? Social Science and Medicine, 62, 165–175.
Carpiano, R. M. (2007). Neighborhood social capital and adult health: an empirical test of a Bourdieu-based model. Health and Place, 13(3), 639–655.
Chirowa, F., Atwood, S., Putten, M. (2013). Gender inequality, health expenditure and maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa: a secondary data analysis. African Journal of Primary Health Care and Family Medicine, 5(1), 471, 5 pages. doi:10.4102/phcfm.v5i1.471.
Eriksson, M. (2011). Social capital and health—implications for health promotion. Global Health Action, 4, doi:10.3402/gha.v4i0.5611.
Feyisetan, B. J., Asa, S., Ebigbola, J. A. (1997). Mothers’ management of childhood diseases in Yorubaland: the influence of cultural beliefs. Health Transition Review, 7, 221–234.
Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences: comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Ihara, E. (2004). Cultural competence in health care: is it important for people with chronic conditions? Georgetown Health Policy Institute, Issue Brief Number 5. https://hpi.georgetown.edu/agingsociety/pubhtml/cultural/cultural.html. Accessed 11 June 2016.
Islam, M. K., Merlo, J., Kawachi, I., Lindstrom, M., Gerdtham, U.-G. (2006). Social capital and health: does egalitarianism matter? A literature review. International Journal of Equity in Health, 5(1), 3.
Jegede, A. S. (2002). The Yoruba cultural construction of health and illness. Nordic Journal of African Studies, 11(3), 322–335.
Kawachi, I. (2006). Commentary: social capital and health—making the connections one step at a time. International Journal of Epidemiology, 35(4), 989–993.
Kleinman, A. (2013). From illness as culture to caregiving as moral experience. New England Journal of Medicine, 368, 1376–1377.
MacPherson, E. E., Richards, E., Namakhoma, I., Theobald, S. (2014). Gender equity and sexual and reproductive health in Eastern and Southern Africa: a critical overview of the literature. Glob Health Action, 7, doi:10.3402/gha.v7.23717.
Muhammad, Y. Y., & Mamdouh H. M. (2012). Mother-daughter communication about sexual and reproductive health in rural areas of Alexandria, Egypt. Mena Working Paper Series Population Reference Bureau. http://www.prb.org/pdf12/mother-daughter-mena-workingpaper.pdf. Accessed 13 June 2016.
Oman, D., & Thoresen, C. E. (2002). ‘Does religion cause health?’: differing interpretations and diverse meanings. Journal of Health Psychology, 7(4), 365–380.
Osuafor, G. N., & Mturi, A. J. (2013). Do religious beliefs influence use of contraception among currently married women in Nigeria? Journal of Social Development in Africa, 28(1), 187–212.
Sabuni, P. L. (2007). Dilemma with the local perception of causes of illnesses in Central Africa: muted concept but prevalent in everyday life. Qualitative Health Research, 17, 1280–1291. doi:10.1177/1049732307307864.
Singer, H. W. (1970). Dualism revisited: a new approach to the problems of the dual society in developing countries. Journal of Developing Societies, 7(1), 60–75.
Tylor, E. B. (1871). Primitive culture: researches into the development of mythology, philosophy, religion, art, and custom Volume 1, London: John Murray.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Amzat, J., Razum, O. (2018). African Culture and Health. In: Towards a Sociology of Health Discourse in Africa. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61672-8_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61672-8_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-61671-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-61672-8
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)