IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i19p12134-d924763.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“Ya Luk Ka Tan Yoo”: An Ethnography of Filial Piety Culture, Medication Usage, and Health Perceptions of the Elderly in Rural Southern Thailand

Author

Listed:
  • Luechai Sringernyuang

    (Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Mahidol University, Nakhon-Pathom 73170, Thailand)

  • Tida Sottiyotin

    (School of Pharmacy, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat 80161, Thailand)

Abstract

Filial piety is a Buddhist virtue, and its meaning varies across cultures. In Thailand, filial piety refers to an appreciation of one’s indebtedness to others. Previous studies showed that filial piety is deeply grounded in longstanding culture values and related to the health of the elderly. Information from some literature revealed that medicinal products given to the elderly by their children, called “Ya-Luk-Ka-Tan-Yoo”, were apparent in the communities of rural southern Thailand. This study aims to explore in depth how “Ya-Luk-Ka-Tan-Yoo” is perceived, valued, and functions in southern Thailand’s socio-cultural contexts. Ethnography methodology is used, and a researcher was embedded in the field for six months, gathering data through participant observation and ethno-graphic interviews with fifty-two respondents. The findings reveal that filial piety medication is related to the local meanings of medicine, children, and gratitude. “Ya-Luk-Ka-Tan-Yoo,” in the eyes of both the elderly and their children, encompasses more than just health. Implicit herein are the concepts of a means of care and gratitude and a symbol of life. Filial piety medication is thus a carrier/medium of physical, financial, and emotional support. This research reveals how the ill health of the elderly is transformed to a commodity. Nonetheless, the negative impact of the efficacy of filial piety medication remains an issue of concern among professionals. The findings indicate that people are aware of the risks associated with self-medication. However, they insisted that their use was still necessary and justifiable.

Suggested Citation

  • Luechai Sringernyuang & Tida Sottiyotin, 2022. "“Ya Luk Ka Tan Yoo”: An Ethnography of Filial Piety Culture, Medication Usage, and Health Perceptions of the Elderly in Rural Southern Thailand," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-10, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:19:p:12134-:d:924763
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/12134/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/12134/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nichter, Mark & Vuckovic, Nancy, 1994. "Agenda for an anthropology of pharmaceutical practice," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 1509-1525, December.
    2. Eaves, Emery R., 2015. "“Just Advil”: Harm reduction and identity construction in the consumption of over-the-counter medication for chronic pain," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 147-154.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Craig, Sienna R. & Adams, Lisa V. & Spielberg, Stephen P. & Campbell, Benjamin, 2009. "Pediatric therapeutics and medicine administration in resource-poor settings: A review of barriers and an agenda for interdisciplinary approaches to improving outcomes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(11), pages 1681-1690, December.
    2. Ramdas, Sahienshadebie, 2012. "Cruel disease, cruel medicine: Self-treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis with harmful chemical substances in Suriname," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(6), pages 1097-1105.
    3. Carla F. Rodrigues, 2020. "Self-medication with antibiotics in Maputo, Mozambique: practices, rationales and relationships," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 6(1), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Chandler, Clare I.R. & Hall-Clifford, Rachel & Asaph, Turinde & Pascal, Magnussen & Clarke, Siân & Mbonye, Anthony K., 2011. "Introducing malaria rapid diagnostic tests at registered drug shops in Uganda: Limitations of diagnostic testing in the reality of diagnosis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(6), pages 937-944, March.
    5. Lasco, Gideon & Yu, Vincen Gregory, 2022. "Pharmaceutical messianism and the COVID-19 pandemic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    6. Baxerres, Carine & Le Hesran, Jean-Yves, 2011. "Where do pharmaceuticals on the market originate? An analysis of the informal drug supply in Cotonou, Benin," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(8), pages 1249-1256.
    7. Schumaker, Lynette Louise & Bond, Virginia A., 2008. "Antiretroviral therapy in Zambia: Colours, 'spoiling', 'talk' and the meaning of antiretrovirals," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(12), pages 2126-2134, December.
    8. Hutchinson, Eleanor & Mundua, Sunday & Ochero, Lydia & Mbonye, Anthony & Clarke, Sian E., 2022. "Life in the buffer zone: Social relations and surplus health workers in Uganda's medicines retail sector," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 300(C).
    9. Childerhose, Janet E. & MacDonald, Margaret E., 2013. "Health consumption as work: The home pregnancy test as a domesticated health tool," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 1-8.
    10. Mackay, Bruce, 2008. "From life insurance to safer sex - Reflections of a marketing man," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(10), pages 2168-2172, May.
    11. Dassieu, Lise & Kaboré, Jean-Luc & Choinière, Manon & Arruda, Nelson & Roy, Élise, 2020. "Painful lives: Chronic pain experience among people who use illicit drugs in Montreal (Canada)," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    12. Palmer, Jennifer J. & Kelly, Ann H. & Surur, Elizeous I. & Checchi, Francesco & Jones, Caroline, 2014. "Changing landscapes, changing practice: Negotiating access to sleeping sickness services in a post-conflict society," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 396-404.
    13. Teixeira, Maria & Guillaume, Agnès & Ferrand, Michèle & Adjamabgo, Agnès & Bajos, Nathalie, 2012. "Representations and uses of emergency contraception in West Africa. A social anthropological reading of a northern medicinal product," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 148-155.
    14. Helen Lambert & Meixuan Chen & Christie Cabral, 2019. "Antimicrobial resistance, inflammatory responses: a comparative analysis of pathogenicities, knowledge hybrids and the semantics of antibiotic use," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-13, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:19:p:12134-:d:924763. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.