HEALTH

The World Health Organization

(WHO) defines health as a state of
complete physical, mental and social
well-being and not merely the
absence of disease or infirmity.
 Physical Health
• Refers to the way that your
body functions.
• This includes eating right,
getting regular exercise and
being at your recommended
body weight.
• It is also avoiding vices, and
being free of disease and
sickness.
Psychological Health

• Is the ability to recognize reality and cope

with the demands of every life.
 Emotional Health
• Is expressing your emotions in a positive and
non-destructive way.
 Social Health
• Is the quality of your relationships with family, friends,
teachers and classmates and others the child is in contact
with.
Spiritual Health
• Refers to maintaining harmonious relationships with
other living things and having spiritual direction and
purpose.
Culture Specific Syndromes and Illness

The Culture-Bound Syndrome, Charles C.

Hughes Ph.D.,
200 folk illnesses that have at one time or
another, been considered culture-bound
syndromes.
Exotic and evocative names:
Arctic hysteria, amok, brain fa, windigo.
Common syndromes:
“bughat”, “usog”/”buyag”.
Bughat (Postpartum or Binat)

“Bughat” (Ilonggo term) or “Binat” (tagalog term) is

the term used to refer to the ailments (headache, chills,
body pains, dizziness, malaise, muscle weakness, and in
some it is blindness) a mother experiences after giving
birth or after having suffered abortion or miscarriage
because she did not follow certain rituals after childbirth.
 USOG

Usog or balis is a topic in psycho-medicine in

Filipino Psychology (but considered just as a Filipino
superstition in Western Psychology) where an affliction or
psychological disorder is attributed to a greeting by
a stranger, or an eye evil hex.

It usually affects an unsuspecting child, usually an

infant or toddler, who has been greeted by a visitor
or a stranger.
Possible Scientific Explanation
1. Child Distress – observations that a stranger (or a new comer
or even a visiting relative) especially someone with a strong
personality (physically big, boisterous, has a strong smell,
domineering, etc.) may easily distress a child. – the child is said to
be “overpowered” or nausog and thus may fell afraid,
develop fever, get sick, etc.

Child’s distress is the consequence of the child’s failure to adapt to

change – disruption of homeostasis through physical or psychological
stimuli brought about by the stranger.

mental (stranger is perceived as a threat,

The stressful stimuli to the child may be
malevolent or demanding), physiological (loud and/or high-pitched voice of the
stranger that is hurting to the child’s eardrum; strong smell of the stranger that irritates
the child’s nasal nerves), or physical (stranger as heavy hands or is taking up too
much space).
 The stranger’s act of gently placing
his finger with his saliva to the child’s
arm, foot or any particular part of the
child’s body, could make him more
familiar to the child, and thus, reduce
if not remove the stress.

“pwera usog… pwera usog…

- means no harm
 The saliva from the stranger, granted that he or
she is healthy and consistent with his or her oral
hygiene, is relatively clean and contains enough
antimicrobial compounds such as lactoferrin,
lactoperoxidase, and secretory immunoglobulin A
which can help clear pathogens from the child and
benefit the child against infection

Human Saliva has opiorphin, a

newly researched pain-killing
substance.
“Buyag” (bisaya), the English translation is
telling or asking someone to stop
misbehaving.

“Baraw” (malignant remark) and “timang”

(malignant remark/curse).
System of Diagnosis, Prevention and Healing

People from the Rural Area in the Philippines

-Home remedies
-Traditional healing techniques
-Supernatural ailments

People from Urban

-Western Medical Interventions
-Over-the-counter drugs
 Traditional forms of self-
medication
1. Chinese oils or ointments
2. Use of folk healing techniques consistent with the
Chinese hot/cold classification system of diseases
and the concept of wind illnesses e.g. ventosa.
3. The use of herbs and roots - healers are presumed to
posses a God given gift – their popularity and prestige
depends a great deal on their interpersonal relationships
with their patients.
4. Faith healers – techniques include blessing the body with
holy water, laying on of the hands, and anointing with oil –
enhanced by ritualized prayer, chanting, and the creation of
an atmosphere that reinforces the individual’s faith. E.g
PSYCHIC SURGERY
What is Traditional Healing?
•it is the oldest form of structured medicine – with
underlying set of principles by which it is practiced.
• - Chinese medicine, Graeco-Arabic medicine,
Western medicine.
•Its origins are believed to lie much further back and
probably predate the last Ice Age.
•It has no philosophical base, as its practice is totally founded
on healing knowledge that ahs been accumulated over
thousands of years and upon the healer’s personal experience
– includes awareness of and sense of unity with the natural
world and understanding of different level of consciousness
within human psyche.
•Referred as “wisdom medicine” or “Wizard
Medicine” – wise or “clever” men and women or as
persons of knowledge.
Principles of Traditional Healing
Four Pillars of traditional healing
Roman Historian Piny the Elder (23-79 AD)

Eruditio Perspicacitas
Beneficentia et Caritas
“learning, insight, kindness and empathy
These are the basic principles that should
guide the traditional healer in all his or her
actions.

Traditional healing always deals with natural laws, because all life is subject to
these natural laws and ill-health is usually due to an inherent or acquired
weakness that has allowed an abnormal imbalance to occur, either within an
organism, or between the organism and its environment.
Energetic Medicine
It considers that an all pervading energy is
present in all matter that embodies the natural
laws and universal creative force.
Greeks – Pneuma and Aether
China – Qi
Japan – Ki
India – Prana
Pacific Cultures - Mana
Traditional healers believe that this energy can become disturbed in
living beings due to adverse thoughts and emotions, an
inappropriate lifestyle, an unwholesome diet, unhealthy air, tainted
water, an unnatural environment and disharmony with natural cycles.
Traditional Healing Today
Governments view traditional healers as a
legacy of the past freedoms of tribal life and thus
as a threat to their autonomy and power.
Traditional medicine has been gradually forced underground
in many societies due to pressure from missionaries and
governments who perceived such practices as witchcraft.
Contrary to those beliefs, however, traditional medicine has
proven to be quite effective in treating both chronic diseases and
psychological problems, especially those associated with stress,
which frequently stem from social alienation, anxiety or loss of self-
esteem. Examples of diseases influenced by stress are certain types
of ulcers, skin problems and bronchial disorders.
What is Western Healing
•It is the modern day practices of the medical world
and are typically referred to as medical science.
•Western medicine and treatment are usually done
by a doctor, nurse and other conventional
healthcare provider.
•Their practices and methods are of Western medical
and scientific teachings and traditions.
•Surgery – is a well-known forefront on Western
medicine.
1. Western medicine sees the mind and body as “split”, meaning two
separate entities. The Western mind/body split is not a scientific
fact, but a simplification based on cultural assumptions.
2. Western Medicine treats the physical body. It does not
acknowledge energy fields as clinically significant for diagnosis or
treatment.
3. Western Medicine’s approach to the mind/body is to “fix” the
physical body. If the body is missing a substance, the Western
approach is to supply it (e.g. drugs and surgery)
What is Alternative Medicine
•Is a healing practice that has the effect of medicine
but does not necessarily originated from medical
practice or a scientific method. It consists of a wide
rage of healing practices health, care, therapies
and the like.
•These alternatives are not backed up by scientific
facts but has still proven successful in healing
illnesses and psychological strains.
•Examples:
Christian faith healing Various forms of acupuncture

Traditional Chinese medicine Christian faith healing

Naturopathy Chiropractors

Homeopathy
1. Complementary medicine – is alternative medicine used together
with conventional medical treatment in a belief, not established
using the scientific method, that is “complements” (improves the
efficacy of treatment).
2. Integrative medicine – is the combination of the practices and
methods of alternative medicine with conventional medicine.

• Alternative medical diagnoses and treatments are not included as

science-based treatments that are taught in medical schools and are
not used in medical practice.
• Alternative therapies lack scientific validation and their effectiveness
is either unproved or disproved.
• Alternative medicine is being based on religion, tradition, superstition,
belief in supernatural energies, pseudoscience and errors in
reasoning propaganda or fraud.
Health as a Human Right
The human right to health means that
everyone has the right to the highest
attainable standard of physical and mental
health, which includes access to all medical
services, sanitation, adequate food, decent
housing, healthy working conditions and a
clean environment.
1. The human right to health guarantees a system of health
protection for all.
2. Everyone has the right to the health care they need, and to living
conditions that enable us to be healthy, such as adequate food,
housing and a healthy environment.
3. Health care must be provided as a public good for all, financed
publicly and equitably.

The human right to health care means that hospitals, clinics, medicines
and doctors services must be accessible, available, acceptable, and of
good quality for everyone, on an equitable basis, where and when
needed.
Practice of Medical Pluralism
Pluralism has always existed in health care systems: there have always been
multiple practitioners to choose from and multiple ways of understanding
health and healing. While the ideal pluralism suggests multiple healing
options competing on a level playing field, in modern societies this is often
not the case.

Medical Pluralism is the employment of more than one or the use of both
conventional and complementary and alternative medicine for health and
illnesses. The Philippines has a variety of health services and practices
concerning medical pluralism.