Indigenous Evaluations of Health Care in Turkey

Abstract

Research conducted in five interconnected villages on the Black Sea Coast of Turkey has shown that general cultural ideas about family and social relations combine with traditional and clinical medical theories and techniques to shape health care practices. By studying the health care choices of patients and their families, cultural values can be observed in action. Studies of health care institutions in rural areas have typically treated traditional healing and indigenous theories of health as obstacles to be overcome in the pursuit of maximum health benefits for the population. On the other hand, efforts to validate indigenous techniques and knowledge often present clinical medicine as an unmitigated threat to traditional ways. The following demonstrates how traditional and clinical healing practices interact and combine in a system which is actively negotiated and consumed by patients and their families.