Medical Anthropology

Medical anthropology is a discipline that gives attention to aspects of biological and socio-culture of human behavior, especially about the ways of interaction between the two throughout the history of human life, which affect health and disease in humans.


Anthropology of health assist the socio-cultural study of all the people associated with the sick and healthy as a center of culture, including:
1. Diseases associated with trust (misfortunes)
2. In some societies the misfortunes caused by supernatural forces and the supernatural, or witches
3. Group 'healers' are found with different forms in each community group
4. Healers have a role as a healer
5. The attention to an existence of 'sick' or 'disease' is not an individual, especially the "illness and sickness" in the family or community.

There are a number of science related to anthropology and contribute to each other contribute to the development of other sciences. For example in the fields of biology, medical anthropology describes the techniques and discoveries of medical sciences and its variations, including microbiology, biochemistry, genetics, parasitology, pathology, nutrition, and epidemiology.

This makes it possible to link the biological changes that obtained using the technique of social factors and culture in a particular society. Examples: albinism hereditary disease in an area in East Nusa Tenggara is transmitted through a recessive gene for marriage between family members.

In general, medical anthropology continues to contribute to other health sciences as follows:
1. Provide a way to look at society as a whole, including individual. Where is the proper perspective will be able to contribute right in improving the welfare of a society with still relies on the roots of personality that builds community. Examples of systems approach, holistic, emic, relativism, which became the rationale for anthropology can be used to help solve community problems and develop the situation for the better.
2. Provide a model that is operationally useful to describe the process of socio-cultural field of health.
3. Donations towards research and research methods. Both in formulating an appropriate approach as well as assist the analysis and interpretation of the results of a condition in the community.

Culture

In the context of a school or class-cultural theory that major effects in the study of anthropology, or known as "Ideasionalisme" (ideationalism) (Keesing, 1981; Sathe, 1985) in the study of health in particular.

Goodenough argued that culture is a cognitive system-a system that consists of knowledge, beliefs, and values that are in the minds of individual members of society. This means that the culture was in "the ideational order of reality." Or culture is a mental equipment by members of the community used in the processes of orientation, deals, meetings, formulation of ideas, classification, and interpretation of social behavior evident in the community. Thus the guidelines for community members to behave in socially good / decent and as interpretation for the behavior of others.

The same is also suggested by Sathe (1985:10) that culture is the ideas and important assumptions owned a society that determines or affects communication, justification, and the behavior of its members (Kalangie ,1994:1-2).

Public Health Nursing

Community Health Care is a nursing service which is an integral part of health care performed by nurses, by involving other health care team and the community to obtain a higher level of health of individuals, families and communities. (MOH, 1986).

According to the WHO in 1974, public health care is a unique unity of prakyek nursing and public health aimed at the development and improvement of the health of both themselves as individuals collectively as keliuarga maupus, a special group of people, this service memcakup spectrum of health services to the community.