Over 90% participants of cross-cultural training agree that they will be able to apply the knowledge learned in their daily work.

South Asia

Cultural beliefs and routines

Concept of family includes immediate and extended relatives
Family members are usually involved in decision making and they are told first of the diagnosis before the patient
Individuals generally do not discuss personal, physical, or mental concerns to persons outside the family
Some female genital mutilation practiced (India)
Illness is an alteration of the natural balance of "hot" and "cold" elements in the universe
Foods and beverages, drugs, and herbs are classified as "hot" or "cold"
Hot conditions: diarrhea, rashes, hyperactivity, hyperthermia, stroke, seizures, pregnancy
Cold conditions: childbirth, illness, depression, hypoactivity, hypothermia, abdominal cramps, indigestion, post-partum
Health is restored by increasing the deficient element or lowering the excessive one

Concept of health

Health takes a holistic approach
Good health is when there is a balance in humors, and when the mind and body are well and harmonized with nature
Maintaining health and the act of healing are religious practices

Causes of illness

Imbalanced humors
Fate or bad karma (an individual's past life that determines the present and future existence)
Evil eye: the belief that a person looking at another with admiration or jealousy that can provoke harm
Bad luck

Traditional remedies and treatments

Herbal drinks
Roots and other herbs are worn around the neck or are used to make spiritual bracelets (amulets)
Specific diets
Precious or semi-precious gems
Religious rituals are often conducted to rid the patient of the evil influence
Ancestral worship

Ayruvedic medicine

Means knowledge of life
Holistic system with great emphasis on preventive medicine
Synthesize religion with secular medicine, nature and harmony
Body is comprised of three primary forces (dosha): Vata, Pitta, and Kapha
- Each dosha represents characteristics derived from the five elements: space, air, fire, water, earth
- Each dosha represents certain bodily activities
- Equilibrium among the dosha is perceived as a state of health - the state of imbalance is disease
Healer tries to determine the root cause of disease, which may not always be inside the body
- Root cause has to be removed in order to have permanent relief
Medicinal plants are used as treatments
Common health problems: fever, headache, common cold, stomach ache, diarrhea, constipation, arthritis, and joint pains

Homeopathic medicine

Originated from Greece
Symptoms are a sign of the body's defense system
Homeopathy uses plants (herbs), minerals, and animals that would create the same symptoms as the illness, creating an overdose of the same symptoms
- This treatment is believed to assist the body's defense and make it more powerful to fight off the illness

Unani medicine (also known as humoral medicine)

Unani in the Arabic language means Greek
Originated from Greece, moved to the Middle East and to South Asia
There are humors that are in equilibrium in the body, i.e. in each organ, tissue, and cell
- Humors: blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm
Disease is a result of an imbalance in the quality or quantity of the humors
The sum total of the various humors and their proportions give rise to temperaments
- Hot temperament = dominating humor is blood
- Cold temperament = dominating humor is black bile
- Dry temperament = dominating humor is yellow bile
- Moist temperament = dominating humor is phlegm
Good health is maintained if the relative proportions of 4 humors are kept stable
- This is done by balancing the temperaments: Hot with Cold, Wet with Dry
Methods to bring balance
- Herbal therapy
- Moderate intake of foods and drinks
- Proper excretion
- Adequate sleep
- Moderate exercise (e.g. yoga)
- Mental peace (e.g. meditation)
- Regimental therapy includes cupping, massaging, purging, and leeching

Pregnancy and childbirth

A woman's issue only
Pregnant women treated with great care and attention
Pregnancy viewed as a "hot" state because there is increased body heat
Idea is to avoid becoming "overheated" because it may induce miscarriage
Avoid "hot" foods - meat, eggs, nuts, herbs, spices
Encouraged to eat "cold" foods - milk products, fruits, vegetables
Overeating not recommended - believed to result in a very large baby that is difficult to deliver
Belief that developing fetus is vulnerable to evil spirits - Hindus perform ritual and wear amulets to ward off evil spirits
Pain medicine thought to complicate delivery, therefore not used
Mother not expressing pain during the labor and delivery process is seen as desired and receives praise
Sex of the child not told until after birth
Post-partum time believed to be a "cold" state
Recuperation times lasts 40 days - mother is encouraged to stay at home and obtain adequate rest, and is offered special food along with the regular meals
Female elders take care of the older children and prepare meals while the mother rests
Breast-feeding practiced and encouraged
- Done for 6 months to 3 years
- Common to be supplemented with cow's milk or diluted with sugar water because it is believed that the infant's stomach is weak

Mental health

Individual's emotional problems bring shame and guilt to the family
Mental illness is believed to result from spiritual possession and treated with exorcism in rural areas
Dhat: semen-loss syndrome (India)
- Symptoms: men have extreme concerns with their semen discharge, suffer severe anxiety, have a whitish discoloration in their urine, and feel weak and exhausted
- Similar to Jiryan (India) and Sukra Pramena (Sri Lanka)