Abstract
There is no guaranteed way to prepare completely for cross-cultural encounters. Talking with people who have had similar experiences often builds the excitement that accompanies such journeys, but what others felt and how they dealt with problems will seldom match what one finds on arrival. Reading about the politics and current events and exploring the local literature provide a perspective, but sometimes, the perspective is wide of the reality on the ground. Though every volunteer develops an individual approach to deal with each situation, common threads to successful adaptation include a willingness to communicate, a genuine receptivity to new ideas, and a ready sense of humor—all coupled with a healthy dose of humility.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Oberg L. Culture shock and the problem of adjustment to new cultural environments [Internet]. 2012. Available from: http://www.worldwide.edu/travel_planner/culture_shock.html. Cited 14 July 2012.
Ogunlusi JD, Okem IC, Oginni LM. Why patients patronize traditional bone setters. Internet J Orthop Surg [Internet]. 2007;4(2):1–7.
Eshete M. The prevention of traditional bone setter’s gangrene. J Bone Joint Surg Br. 2005;87(1):102–3.
Suggested Reading
Dada AA, et al. Review of the practice of traditional bone setting in Nigeria. Afr Health Sci. 2011;11(2):262–5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3158503/.
Oberg K. Culture shock: adjustment to new cultural environments. http://www.agem-ethnomedizin.de/download/cu29_2-3_2006_S_142-146_Repr_Oberg.pdf.
Walker G. Traditional healers—how can we improve their treatments? SICOT e-Newsletter. 2012;(49). http://www.sicot.org. (Cited 25 July 2018).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Foltz, M., Walker, G. (2020). Culture Shock and Traditional Healing. In: Gosselin, R., Spiegel, D., Foltz, M. (eds) Global Orthopedics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13290-3_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13290-3_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-13289-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-13290-3
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)