Sifa Medical Journal

SHORT COMMUNICATION
Year
: 2014  |  Volume : 1  |  Issue : 2  |  Page : 27--28

Scope of acculturation in globalization and remodeling of health and disease-related outcomes


Saurabh R Shrivastava, Prateek S Shrivastava, Jegadeesh Ramasamy 
 Department of Community Medicine, Shri Sathya Sai Medical College and Research Institute, Ammapettai, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Correspondence Address:
Saurabh R Shrivastava
3rd Floor, Department of Community Medicine, Shri Sathya Sai Medical College and Research Institute, Ammapettai village, Thiruporur-Guduvancherry Main Road, Sembakkam Post, Kancheepuram - 603 108, Tamil Nadu
India

Abstract

The concept of acculturation is used to describe adjustment of a foreign-born immigrant to their new country of residence by means of the adoption of newer customs, rituals, norms, and behaviors. In today�SQ�s world, amidst the globalization, various reasons, such as international trade and commerce, industrialization, propagation of religion, education opportunities, vocational openings, and conquest, have facilitated �DQ�culture contact�DQ�. Acculturation tends to have an important influence on health by bringing about alterations in the levels of stress, access to the healthcare delivery system, and by remodeling the general attitude of people towards health. To conclude, acculturation has a significant impact on almost all determinants of the health and it is an important phenomenon in the process of globalization and development of society in the modern era.



How to cite this article:
Shrivastava SR, Shrivastava PS, Ramasamy J. Scope of acculturation in globalization and remodeling of health and disease-related outcomes.Sifa Med J 2014;1:27-28


How to cite this URL:
Shrivastava SR, Shrivastava PS, Ramasamy J. Scope of acculturation in globalization and remodeling of health and disease-related outcomes. Sifa Med J [serial online] 2014 [cited 2024 Mar 29 ];1:27-28
Available from: https://www.imjsu.org/text.asp?2014/1/2/27/132968


Full Text

 Introduction



The concept of acculturation is used to describe adjustment of a foreign-born immigrants to their new country of residence by means of the adoption of newer customs, rituals, norms, and behaviors. [1] In other words, acculturation deals with the process of cultural and social reorganization that usually occur following the exposure of an individual/family/community to a secondary culture other than their primary culture. [2] In contrast to the task of socialization, acculturation relates with gaining an insight about an alternative culture. [3] Acculturation tends to cast an impact on different levels in the migrant community such as individual (viz. alterations in the day to day behavior) and group level (viz. transformations in the culture, customs, food intake and dietary pattern, language, etc.). [2],[4],[5]

Determinants of acculturation

In today's world, amidst the process of impending globalization, various reasons, such as international trade and commerce, industrialization, propagation of religion, education opportunities, vocational openings, and conquest, have facilitated "culture contact". [6] In fact, the World Health Organization has estimated that more than 900 million people avail the services of international travel every year. [7]

Strategies for acculturation

Overall, four different strategies have been proposed for acculturation, namely assimilation (viz. when immigrants embrace the cultural patterns of the host culture, over their indigenous culture); separation (viz. when immigrants continue to safeguard/perpetuate their cultural habits and refuse to accept that of the subsequent nation); integration (viz. when the migrated people maintain a balance and practice the cultural habits of the adopted as well as the aboriginal country); and marginalization (viz. when people refuse to acquire the cultural traditions of both the native and the adopted country). [8] However, the impact of acculturation on the immigrants differ significantly between the first and the subsequent generations of the individuals, owing to the variable extent of the influence of parents from different generations. [9]

Scope of acculturation in remodeling health - and disease-associated outcomes

Acculturation tends to have an important influence on health by bringing about alterations in the levels of stress, access to the healthcare delivery system, and by remodeling the general attitude of people towards health. [10],[11] In addition, secondary to the continuous contact between people from different countries, a significant extent, of remodeling has been observed in the food practices, preferences for music/dance/clothing, and technologies. [12] Studies have been performed to assess the impact of acculturation on individual identities of college students, regarding adoption of high risk behaviors of college students, to study the incidence of intimate partner violence or homicide among immigrants from a patriarchal type of family, and to understand and give probable explanation for the observed variation in substance-related outcomes of different sections of the community. [13],[14],[15],[16] In fact, significant association was observed between the role of acculturation in influencing the health attitudes and behaviors of women to utilize screening services for cancer, in promoting life satisfaction, and in modifying the onset of lifestyle disorders. [17],[18],[19]

 Conclusion



To conclude, acculturation has a significant impact on almost all determinants of the health and it is an important phenomenon in the process of globalization and development of society in the modern era.

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