Advances in Traditional Medicine

Kyung Hee Oriental Medicine Research Center (경희대학교 융합한의과학연구소)
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Health as spiritual and virtuous harmony with compassion and vital energy

  • Pang, Keum-Young (Nursing Division, Howard University, College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Allied Health Sciences)
  • Published : 2004.09.30
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Abstract

Altruistic virtuous caring, possibly originated from religion and/or spirituality, is indispensable for holistic health through channeling vital energy with diet, exercise and meditation. This is a participant-observed medical anthropological research of a first generation Korean elderly immigrant health professional woman living in a four generational family. She had hypertension and was concerned about possible attack of stroke. Multi-religious, spiritual, and cosmological vital energy based on holistic Nature-oriented health beliefs and practices influenced by psychosocial, cultural and economic background, education, self- discipline and self-cultivation of individual, and group or family may create health. Self-care beliefs based on confidence in self-control of one's life style for oneself and others influence individual and group health practice. The holistic alternative health beliefs and practices were proved to be efficacious and beneficial by her self-evaluation, evaluation of significant others, biomedical professionals, and laboratory tests. That may have potential application for global health.

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