From the author: "The purpose of this thesis was to explore and describe the health and illness beliefs of a Franco-American community in Northern Maine. A major assumption of this study was that culture impacts all aspects of life and therefore determines how we define health and illness. The ethnographic inquiry provided an exhaustive description of health and illness experiences of selected members within the community and, through contextual analysis, allowed inductive identification of patterns within the group. Major themes emerged in the areas of health beliefs (functional and subjective health definitions), health behaviors (approach and avoidance behaviors), illness beliefs (susceptibilities and vulnerabilities), illness behaviors (home-care and cues to action) and clinical reality. The subsequent ethnographic record provided a rich description of the health and illness beliefs of a Franco-American community and allowed a glimpse into the clinical reality shared by its members."
