Download or read book Biocultural Dimensions of Chronic Pain written by Maryann S. Bates and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 1996-01-01 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on qualitative and quantitative studies in the United States and Puerto Rico, this book demonstrates the significant effects of patients' and health providers' ethnic and cultural backgrounds on the chronic pain experience. A biocultural model from medical anthropology is used to contribute to a better understanding of the interaction of biology and culture in human pain perception. In the studies described, the factors most often associated with successful adjustment to chronic pain are not biomedical but cultural, psychosocial, or the cultural, political, and economic contexts of medical care, compensation and rehabilitation. Truly multi-disciplinary chronic pain treatment programs must be staffed by providers knowledgeable in cultural relativity and cultural self-awareness and should integrate a cultural assessment with an individualized rehabilitation and biopsychosocial treatment plan for each patient.