Rural Greeks and illness: an anthropologist's viewpoint

Traditionally, the ill in Greece are supported by kin and neighbors, who often provide diagnosis, medication and the social support required by an invalid. In Australia, the Greek patient is likely to be faced with impersonal efficiency rather than the highly personalized sympathy he is used to. The absence of supporting kin and friends may combine with lack of familiarity in the Australian system to make illness in Australia an extremely anxious experience, perhaps much more anxious than it should ever be.