Is a culture of health always healthy?

Nurs Forum. 2019 Jul;54(3):392-395. doi: 10.1111/nuf.12345. Epub 2019 Mar 25.

Abstract

Health care systems in the United States are increasingly focused on addressing the social and cultural determinants of health (ie, a biopsychosocial model of disease). We applaud this important and laudable shift within US healthcare, which has long been dominated by a merely biomedical model of disease. However, we offer three reasons for nurses and other healthcare providers to proceed with caution; otherwise, human culture could become merely a tool of the healthcare industry to be instrumentally deployed in meeting its procedural goals.

Keywords: philosophy; policy/politics; social determinants of care.

MeSH terms

  • Delivery of Health Care / trends*
  • Exercise / psychology*
  • Health Behavior*
  • Humans
  • Organizational Culture*
  • United States