EAST MEETS WEST - ILLNESS COGNITION AND BEHAVIOR IN SINGAPORE

Although allopathic (''modern'' or ''Western'') medicine predominates in Singapore, Singaporeans have access to traditional forms of medicin e as well, including Chinese, Malay, and Indian traditional medicines and practices. Studies of medical help-seeking behaviour have noted th at it is not at all uncommon for Singaporeans to use both traditional and Western systems, often simultaneously and for the same illnesses. This simultaneous use of different medical systems raises interesting questions concerning the effects of these systems on illness cognition s, and also raises questions concerning the determinants for choice of different types of treatment. This paper summarises work by the autho r and his students in this area and explores its implications for unde rstanding the nature and development of illness cognitions and their r elationship to help-seeking behaviour.