Culture, Illness and Health Seeking in Rural Setting: A Case in a Village of Comilla, Bangladesh

Md Abdur Rahman¹, Rabeya Khatun¹, Md Asaduzzaman¹ and Asif Ekbal Arif²

Received: December 06, 2019;   Published: December 13, 2019

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Abstract

This paper has been explored on the locale’s interpretation of illness and remedies in the context of rural setting in Bangladesh. Taking ethnomedical approach as key theoretical lens of medical anthropology within the discipline of cultural anthropology, this study has tried to explore how the local people perceived illness through their experiential and traditional knowledge system and how they managed remedies or health seeking by employing symbolic (knowledge, beliefs etc), structural (family, kinship, social network, social institutional support etc), and material aspects of culture including economic resources. For gathering firsthand data through field experiences, this study has been conducted among the villagers of a village of Comilla District in Bangladesh. However, the data were collected by employing the qualitative tools and techniques of data collection including Key Informant Interview, Focused Group Discussion, Informal Interview and observation. The respondents were selected on the basis of purpossive sampling method. Finally, the data were analyzed in qualitative nature including narrative analysis, content analysis etc.

Keywords: Culture, Illness, Health-Seeking, Ethnomedicare

Abstract| Introduction| Theoretical and Conceptual Framework of this Study| Methodology of this Study| Findings and Analysis| References|