Led by a UCLA-trained health psychologist, a team of experts describes non-traditional treatments that are quickly becoming more common in Western society, documenting cultural variations in health and sickness practices to underscore the diversity among human society.

This unique two-volume set describes the variety of cultural approaches to health practiced by people of varying cultural heritages and places them in stark context with traditional Western approaches to health care and medicine. Examining health practices such as Ayurveda, an ancient system of medicine that focuses on the body, the sense organs, the mind, and the soul; and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the author examines why these different approaches can explain some of the cultural variations in health behaviors, differences in why people get sick, and how they cope with illness. Traditional health care providers of all kinds-including clinicians, counselors, doctors, nurses, and social workers-will all greatly benefit by learning about vastly different approaches to health, while general readers and scholars alike will gain insight into the rich diversity of world culture and find the material fascinating.

• Provides a thorough exploration of different approaches to health-such as Ayurveda, traditional Chinese medicine, and Native American medicine-written by interdisciplinary teams of authors and subject experts
• Dedicates multiple chapters to the health practices and specific challenges of specific minority groups such as Latinos, African Americans, and Asian Americans
• Demonstrates the diversity of world views regarding health that falls outside of the Western definition: the absence of disease
• Documents the inherent role of immigration and acculturation in health disparities
• Supplies clear, carefully considered prescriptions for achieving cultural competence