Cupping as an indigenous treatment of pain syndromes in the Finnish culture and social context.

Cupping is a living traditional treatment in Finland. Its survival can be explained by its cultural, physiological, psychological and social effects, which exist within specific economic and sociocultural context. A historical overview of cupping treatment and the role of cuppers is presented; conceptual explanatory models on the action of cupping are given. Social and cultural aspects of cupping in contemporary Finnish society are described and analysed. The data were collected by semistructured and partly standardised interviews of fifteen cuppers in Savo Province in eastern Finland during May--August 1980. The principle features of cupping and its cultural transmission are reported. Underlying belief-systems on the role and qualities of cuppers as well as of cupping treatment itself are presented. The positions of horns (cups) for cupping treatment have been compared with Chinese acupuncture. The study demonstrates specific national features in cupping as practised in Finland.

Sociological aspects of community-based health intervention programmes. The North Karelia Project as an example.

The article considers the sociological aspects of community based health intervention programmes using the North Karelia Project as an example. Health programmes are still in the process of institutionalisation. This means that unlike long established disciplines they do not yet have a well-established methodology, clear research evaluation criteria, or known laws or invariances. The social characteristics of health intervention programmes are considered. They may be regarded as action research. A basic dilemma in the aims of health intervention programmes is emphasized; on the one hand to produce a change in the behavior and health status of the population, and on the other hand to discover the laws or invariances, governing them. The solution of this conflict affects the goals, methods and organisation of the programme and is also important in the evaluation of the outcome. The North Karelia Project, like other health intervention programme was launched and given legal force for medical reasons based on epidemiological research into risk factors. However, behaviour affecting health involves many other dimensions than the medical one. The social determinants and functions of health behaviours, and the role of health intervention as an agent of social control are discussed. Finally, the results and evaluation of this community level health intervention programmes are discussed and their practical implications are considered.

Cupping as a part of living finnish traditional healing. A remedy against pain.

Wet cupping appears to be a living reminiscence of the traditional Finnish healing methods. Fifteen persons practicing or having practiced cupping were interviewed in Savo Province, Eastern Finland. The knowledge and skills of cupping appear to be transferred by personal apprenticeship within a family or from a neighbour. No written material is nowadays available and known to be used in learning. Cupping is considered by healers to be useful in the treatment of aching and pains of teeth, head, neck, shoulders, back and legs. Cuppers report cupping effective also in hypertension and skin diseases. On the other hand, the method is not regarded to be useful in problems of internal organs. Cupping is done after a sauna and bathing of the patient in a warm environment (in sauna). It is often preceded by massage. The small wounds in the cupping sites are made with the aid of a small knife. The healers have the opinion that bad blood must be removed from the superficial areas of the ailing parts of the body, The cupping sites were more or less specific to the ailments of the patient and the number of cups varied from patient to patient depending on the condition and size.

The perceptions of users about barriers to the use of free systematic oral care among Finnish pre-school children--a qualitative study.

With the economic recession in the early 1990s in mind, and the change in the provision of healthcare services, our aim was to explore qualitatively what barriers families of Finnish pre-school children had perceived related to the use of free systematic oral healthcare. Qualitative interviews were carried out with the parents of 12 pre-school children attending an oral health examination to ascertain what barriers those using oral services had overcome, and what they considered to be the reasons for the non-attendance of other families. Content analysis was used by classifying groups of barriers and their reported importance as well as the reasons for non-attendance. The barriers discovered were related to: difficulties in the (i) change of daily routines or (ii) booking time for care, (iii) poor coordination with other healthcare services, (iv) fear and negative image of oral care, and (v) inconsistent content of oral health information. When parents replied to the externalized question about reasons for the non-attendance of some families, they most often mentioned difficulties in changing daily routines, laziness, lack of interest and fear. Barriers to attending oral healthcare could be lowered by emphasizing the positive image of oral health services, by providing more effective coordination with mother and child health services, and by providing appointment times later in the day.

Random paired scenarios--a method for investigating attitudes to prioritisation in medicine.

OBJECTIVE: This article describes a method for investigating attitudes towards prioritisation in medicine. SETTING: University of Kuopio, Finland. DESIGN: The method consisted of a set of 24 paired scenarios, which were imaginary patient cases, each containing three different ethical indicators randomly selected from a list of indicators (for example, child, rich patient, severe disease etc.). The scenarios were grouped into 12 random pairs and the procedure was repeated four times, resulting in 12 scenario pairs arranged randomly in five different sets. SURVEY: This method was tested with four groups of subjects (n = 8, n = 47, n = 104 and n = 36). RESULTS: Children and patients with a severe disease were prioritised in all groups. The aged, patients with a mild disease and patients with a self-acquired disease were negatively prioritised in all groups. Poor or rich patients were prioritised in some groups but negatively prioritised in others. CONCLUSIONS: The validity and reliability of this method are good and it is suitable for investigating attitudes towards medical prioritisation.