Cultural Health Capital
Cultural resources that can facilitate better health care by facilitating better relationships between patients and providers, including knowledge of basic medical terms, acceptance of medical concepts such as the germ theory of illness, belief in cultural values held by most doctors such as the benefits of efficiency, and the ability to speak the same language as one’s doctors. cumulative inequality theory This theory argues that inequality (1) primarily results from social systems (rather than individual choices) and (2) causes health problems that accumulate over the lifetime. cumulative stress burden The sum of an individual’s acute and chronic stresses over the life span. curanderos Folk healers who function within Mexican and Mexican American communities. death brokering The process through which medical authorities make deaths explainable, culturally acceptable, and individually meaningful. deductible Under some forms of health insurance, the minimum dollar amount of health care expenses that individuals must pay annually out of pocket before the insurance plan will begin covering any of their expenses. defensive medicine Tests and procedures that doctors perform primarily to protect themselves against lawsuits rather than to protect their patients’ health. deinstitutionalize To remove individuals (such as mentally retarded and mentally ill persons) from large institutions and return them to the community.
