Cultural epidemiology: Conceptual framework and current directions of an interdisciplinary field

Cultural epidemiology is an interdisciplinary field based on principles and methods ofmedical anthropology and classical epidemiology. Its contribution to health research resultsfrom a focus on illness, distinct from the disease orientation of classical epidemiology.Though rooted in the influential illness explanatory model framework, current developmentsin the field of cultural epidemiology refer more explicitly to determinants of health andillness beyond explanatory models based on frameworks of critical medical anthropology.This rethinking of cultural epidemiology acknowledges the need for research to considerdomains of a revised Outline for Cultural Formulation referring to cultural identity, keysocial relations, and the impact of political economy and other structural features of society.In addition to this current work in cultural psychiatry, two other areas of research remainactive: public health studies of professional and community determinants of vaccineacceptance and research on assessment and study of stigma as a clinically significant featureof illness experience, providing a clinical complement to more mainstream communitystudies of stigma. Key words: cultural epidemiology, illness and disease, illness explanatory models, stigma,vaccine acceptance, Outline for Cultural Formulation