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Impacts of culture in health and healthcare essay
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This paper presents a 60 years old male of Native American descent named Tomas Smith, who goes to the emergency department in an attempt to find some resolutions for the medical complications his is experiencing. Prior to seeking medical attention, the patient sought physical and spiritual healing for the art of cupping done that was by his tribal leaders, when the patient did not achieve the results he was hoping for, he decides to use the help of modern medicine. The patient and wife are not enthusiastic about modern medicine because of cultural beliefs but Mrs. Smith was afraid that she would lose her husband and call the ambulance for medical
In Anne Fadiman’s, A Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, there’s a conflicting battle going on between cultures. While it might never be specifically stated, Anne Fadiman attempts to convey a neutral understanding to her readers of the Hmong beliefs and culture alongside of the culture of biomedicine western society is mostly familiar with. While the Hmong beliefs and practices in medicine are taboo to western society, readers gradually see that Hmong medicine is just as equal or more powerful than biomedicine that we’re so familiar with. It’s an important concept to understand in this book is that the doctors are there to treat Lia’s disease, not precisely concerned with Lia as a person. Hmong medicine seems to be more related to in helping
Especially between the American, Western medicine and the Hmong. Many Americans have grown up learning to trust medicine, the doctors word, and the treatment prescribed. Almost anything considered a health issue or illness is consulted with a doctor and generally medications are prescribed to help the problem. These doctors also understand that the cause of these health issues is due to biological factors within the individual. This means that it is one’s genes, alleles, body fluids, or bacteria is causing the problem.
Instead, the healthcare providers should treat each patient equally to help them get the best outcomes from the diseases. As an international pharmacy student, this feeling is stronger in my mind. America is a melting pot which combine all kinds of culture and people together, as a result,
The Spirit Catches you and you Fall Down” is an astonishing book that reveals the need for improvement of cultural competency in the American healthcare system. This book teaches me the importance of the role of healthcare administrator as a cultural advocate between the patients and the providers. This book also influences me in realizing the differences between patients’ culture and providers’ culture. Moreover, I can relate to Jeanine Hilt, a social worker who truly cares for the Hmong culture and the Lees Family. Healthcare administrators must be aware of the cultures of the population that reside in the region that your facility is located.
In The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Anne Fadiman made the point that a person's life can be ruined due to "cross cultural misunderstandings. " The text points out many issues between the patients and the doctors. It sheds light on many of the problems that the refugees faced after coming to America due to cultural displacement. From my understanding, the texts of Dettwyler and Fadiman show how medical limitations effects the health of the people whether they are in a foreign country or their own country and also the barriers they face due to lack of resources and knowledge.
Fadiman writes about the experience of a Hmong family, the Lees, and their epileptic daughter. According to Fadiman, the Hmong possessed dramatically differing ideas about the cause and repair of ailments or diseases in comparison to doctors in the Western world. In Hmong culture they do not distinguish between physical and mental illnesses; the two are seen as spiritually related. The Hmong people would often resist medical advice but the one form of medication they would consent to is antibiotics. However, they preferred to use alternative methods such as herbal remedies, acupuncture, or burning of the skin.
The Vietnam war of 1955-1975 had an immense effect on the Hmong population in Laos. Traditional Western medicine is commonly held as the gold standard of medical care worldwide, while in recent days, the Western approach is attempting to gradually recognize the values of alternative medicine used in diverse cultures/populations. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman (2012), is a prime example of the clash of two cultures and two opposite medicinal approaches. This paper discusses the humanistic perspective in clinical/medical social work and the systems theory in macro/administrative social work. Based on the humanistic perspective, a micro analysis is conducted on the main character of the book (Lia Lee).
The biomedical worldview is based on the idea that the body is a machine, and illness is caused by a malfunction of that machine. Treatment is focused on fixing the malfunction, often through the use of drugs, surgery, or other medical interventions. In contrast, the Hmong worldview sees illness as a sign of a spiritual imbalance, and the cure is focused on restoring that
Although often used interchangeably, disease and illness differ fundamentally in their meanings and implications. Disease is the commonly thought of concept in which a person suffers due to a physiological or psychological ailment, while illness refers to a culmination of physical, emotional and social suffering of a person. Disease is perceived as the phenomena that affects an organism, while illness affects not only the patient but also their loved ones and community. This distinction is vividly apparent in The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, in which Anne Fadiman relays the approaches to a Hmong child named Lia’s epilepsy by her family and her doctors as well as the tumultuous interaction between these caregivers. It is interesting to understand how Hmong culture and a doctor’s
Throughout the story, there were endless occurrences where the Hmong’s values clashed with the Americans. To start, the Lee’s thought that if a dab gave Lia her illness their family would be able to treat Lia to get her speaking again. But, the Lee’s thought that since Lia got sick in America that they have “…done this to her, and our medicine cannot fix that” (p. 258). Again, the Hmong value their ethnic medicine due to the ancestor’s progressive, trusted therapy techniques, and therefore utilized their treatments without hesitation.
Joining organizations at school are a very common subject to be conversed around college, even before college. There will be constant rambles from advisors and other upper-classmen to join clubs and organizations as a first-year student in college. Throughout college, this type of concern is everyone generally informed of. Even through all the important reminders and advices that students receive from others, there are still many students who are refusing to execute the first step toward joining an organization due to lack of motivation, knowledge, or courage. However, VSA, otherwise known as Vietnamese Student Association, is not just any typical organization on campus, it’s a family.
Honestly, it’s very difficult to find a place for me to be accepted as a being of Lao. It 's hard to explain because where I live in a predominantly neighborhood where racism exist on a standard level. Due to my race, some of the people are hesitating to accept me for who I am. However, I had an opportunity from my parent to influence me toward understand Lao culture and tradition. Therefore, for me being a member of the Laotian-American makes me feel a sense of appreciation of my race.
Although health communication is often distributed through individualistic perspective, health and culture are interrelated, and it is pivotal to consider culture as a part in crafting messages related to health (Airhihenbuwa & Obregon, 2000). In this case, these arguments fit into the discussions of globalization in a way that confirms how developed countries tend to use their own ideas in spreading messages and disregard the existing cultures in the places where they spread these messages, leading to ineffective communication. In the meantime, the second reading shows the U.S. health system in light of other countries by showing how the spending of health care system in the U.S. is much higher than other countries despite the relatively variable
Case Study on Vietnamese Cultural Values I. Vietnamese People and Languages: There are more than 60 groups having different ethnicities; however majority of them are Vietnamese. 85% of total populations are Vietnamese while 15% of the population belongs from other groups. One of the majority ethnicity living in Vietnam is Chinese. The other two groups are Cham and the Khmer. The objective of the current paper is to an analysis of Vietnamese cultural values.
