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. 2018 Mar/Apr;67(2):161-168.
doi: 10.1097/NNR.0000000000000264.

Defining and Theorizing About Culture: The Evolution of the Cultural Determinants of Help-Seeking, Revised

Denise Saint Arnault  1
Affiliations

Defining and Theorizing About Culture: The Evolution of the Cultural Determinants of Help-Seeking, Revised

Denise Saint Arnault. Nurs Res. 2018 Mar/Apr.

Abstract

Background: The recent interest in defining and theorizing about social determinants of health has illuminated the importance of culture as a central phenomenon of interest. However, cultural processes appear in multiple places in social determinants of health models, and their specifics are not delineated or operationalized.

Objectives: This theory development article describes the complexity of defining cultural variables and uses medical anthropology to show how cultural domains, constructs, and variables can be defined.

Methods: Using cultural anthropology theory, empirical work, and a literature synthesis as a starting point, the evolution of the cultural determinants of help-seeking theory is explored and the revision of the theory is highlighted.

Results: The expanded theory include structural concepts as control variables, reframes illness as "suffering," and adds concepts of course, cure, manageability, meaning in life, functioning, social negativity, and perceived need.

Discussion: Strategies for and benefits of isolating and operationalizing cultural variables for middle-range theory development and testing are discussed.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author has no conflicts of interest to report.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Cultural determinants of help seeking model (Saint Arnault, D.M. (2009). Cultural Determinants of Help Seeking: A theoretical model for research and practice. Theory for Research and Practice, 23, 259–278.). Used with permission.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Cultural determinants of help seeking model-revised.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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