Illness behaviors among the Chinese

Illness is an individual's subjective meaning and interpretation of the disease in his or her social context, whereas disease is referred to as the biological pathology or malfunctioning that requires medical or professional attention. This article focuses on how culture may influence the illness behaviours of Chinese. Illness behaviour includes the way people experience, interpret, and cope with the disease. People experience their physical and emotional states based on their sociocultural background and familial socialization. Cultural experiences also structure and shape people's value orientations and behavioural styles. As this article states, to understand better the mechanisms of distress of Chinese and to provide them with culturally competent services, the distress experience of the Chinese around the world must be understood from their cultural perspective. The examination of issues related to illness behaviours of Chinese is carried out focusing on empirical studies conducted in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and North America.