Folk Concepts and Cultural Constructs of the Flu among College Students, The Eagle Feather

2007 Issue

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Folk Concepts and Cultural Constructs of the Flu among College Students

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Author: Joy Garcia, Weber State University
Faculty Mentor:
Lisa Henry, Department of Anthropology, College of Public Affairs and Community Service, University of North Texas
Department:
Department of Anthropology, College of Public Affairs and Community Service
Bio:
Joy Garcia is a senior majoring in anthropology and minoring in political science at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. Her research interests include folk concepts of disease; cultural constructs of the flu versus the stomach flu; conceptions of these two among college students; and perceptions of the symptoms, treatment, and prevention of the flu. Garcia’s background in nursing has contributed to her interest in health and constructs of disease in society. She has done research on traditional courtship and marriage in Ireland during a study abroad semester in the summer of 2006. She has previously presented a research paper on her study of junior high students and their outlook on attending college in a paper entitled “Perceived Obstacles to Career Goals: Gender, Socio-Economic Status, and Ethnicity” at the Student Anthropological Annual Symposium at Weber State University in May 2007. She would like to focus her future research on women who have been in abusive relationships and are now in recovery facilities.

Abstract: Terms like “flu” and “virus” have different meanings for the population and the physicians. Differences in language and behavior between the two have been noted and the wide range of communication needs to be narrowed. This research focuses on the perspectives of college students’ concerns with symptoms, treatments, and prevention of “the flu.” In particular, college students’ knowledge of influenza, its connection to gastrointestinal disorders commonly referred to as the “stomach flu,” and the confusion that results because both are referred to as “the flu.” This research examines the methods used by college students to differentiate between influenza and other illnesses often confused with it such as the “stomach flu.”

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