Some cultural realities and linguistic considerations are discussed that public health providers can use to make preventive health care delivery more effective and acceptable in several developing countries. The case of the Yoruba people of southwestern Nigeria is used as an example. Two points are addressed: the question of the usefulness of specific aspects of the elements of health in these cultures for mass public health education and treatment, and the theoretical contributions that the ontology of health in an indigenous culture can make to the overall conception of what constitutes health care in both developing and developed countries. The Yoruba culture is discussed in terms of the three types of "ogbon" or wisdom (law, custom/tradition, and taboos) that their ancestors employed to ensure order and longevity. It is suggested that even though English may be used to deliver public health in the urban centers, it may still be necessary to retain the use of original Yoruba terms. It is concluded that health has three dimensions--the political, social, and individual or personal--and that health involves an interwoven or interdependent sense of social and individual responsibility. (LB)
Authors
- Location
- Nigeria
- Peer Reviewed
- F
- Publication Type
- ['Speeches/Meeting Papers', 'Opinion Papers']
- Published in
- United States of America
Table of Contents
- 912 681-5471 Office 912 681-6041 Home 2
- Introduction. 3
- There are 3
- The great need notwithstanding 3
- The focus of this paper is two-fold. 4
- That 6
- In other words 6
- Evidently 6
- It will certainly 6
- Hence the eewo 7
- Taboos imposed by religion 7
- Goke-Fariola 6 8
- However when we advance the argument for a. 8
- They 8
- Goke-Pariola 7 9
- Of course not all forms of 10
- Goke-Pariola 9 11
- .health has three dimensions 12
- Yoruba ward with its evocative power qr. if we must 12
- Goke-Pariola 11 13
- Thus these largar social 13
- The definition of health here 13
- By defining health in 13
- The 13
- But it is often related to alcoholism which is a flouting of 13
- Spouse or 13
- Ofin. 13
- Finally this ontology points in the 13
- Health involves an interwoven or 13
- Traditionally it is part of ones obligations as a 13
- Works Cited 14
- Sobande Adegboyega. 14
- Iwe Ala Ibile Yoruba. Ed. Oludare 14
- Works Cited 15
- Sobande Adegboyega. 15
- Ed. Ontdare 15
- Ibadan Longman Nigeria Limited 1978. 23-29. 15
