Question

explain the african american background, blacks and the US health system, and traditional healing method? please explain in details the more the better :)

Answer 1

African-American culture, also known as Black American culture, refers to the contributions of African Americans to the culture of the United States, either as part of or distinct from mainstream American culture

Of the 12.6% of United States residents who identified as black, around 10.3% were "native blackAmerican" or ethnic African Americans, who are direct descendants of West/Central Africans brought to the U.S. as slaves. These individuals make up well over 80% of all blacks in the country.

A legacy of racial discrimination in medical research and the health care system has been linked to a low level of trust in medical research and medical care among African Americans. While racial differences in trust in physicians have been demonstrated, little is known about racial variation in trust of health insurance plans and hospitals. For the present study, the authors analyzed responses to a cross-sectional telephone survey to assess the independent relationship of self-reported race (non-Hispanic black or non-Hispanic white) with trust in physicians, hospitals, and health insurance plans.African Americans feared they would be used as guinea pigs for medical research. This survey also found that blacks were more likely than whites not to trust that their doctors would fully explain the significance of their participation in clinical research or other studies. Many scientists believe that bad feelings make it difficult for them to recruit minorities as participants in biomedical research studies in different areas. There continues to be an underlying element of mistrust between the poor populations and minority populations that may be subjects of research and the research establishment. The perception of mistrust from the African American community is in large caused by their previous experiences with the health care system. However, the mistrust is not only in perception, but has many other reasons. Mistrust of the health care system by African Americans is a major problem that has to be addressed and corrected. This paper is a historical perspective of the African Americans relating to their distrust of research and the traditional health care system.

The health care beliefs and practices of African Americans are  diverse & complex, crossing ethnic, cultural, and social boundaries. Culture influences individuals’ expectations and perceptions about health, illness, and disease. Cultural values influence how individuals cope with illness, disease, & stress.

What is African American (Black) Folk Medicine?

1. Belief in supernatural forces

2. Health & illness viewed as either natural or unnatural

Self-care practices may include the integration of ritualistic behaviors with medicinal remedies (e.g. dancing, chanting, massaging with ointments, ingesting herbs.)

Origins of African American Folk Beliefs

1. Traced back to 1619 when slaves were brought into the U.S.

2. Slaves preferred self-treatment or treatment by friends, older relatives, or conjure doctors.

3. Originated in West Africa.

4. Religion interwoven into health care beliefs and practices.

5. Influenced by beliefs developed in Haiti, Jamaica, and Trinidad such as:

1.     Healing properties of certain herbs and spices

2.     Supernatural forces

3.     View of health and illness

African American Folk Practices and Practitioners

1. Granny

2. Spiritualist

3. Voodoo priest or priestess

Witchcraft: An Alternative Form of Folk Medicine

1.     Belief that witchcraft can be used to treat illness/disease and to inflict illness/disease.

2.     Premise: there are some individuals who possess the ability to mobilize the forces of good and evil. Such abilities are based on the principle of sympathetic magic. The premise of Sympathetic Magic is  everything in the universe is connected.There is a direct correlation between the body and forces of nature. Understanding these connections assists an individual in the interpretation and manipulation of events.

Two Types of Sympathetic Magic

Contagious

1.     physically connected objects can never be separated

2.     any action against the part constitutes an action against the whole.

Imitative

1.     Premise: "like follows like"

2.     a person will imitate the desired behavior or achievement

Healing from God and Home remedies

1.     Used mostly for acute and chronic illnesses/conditions

2.     May be used for health promotion or disease prevention

3.     herbs, spices, foods, teas, ointments, liniments.