In Hmong’s, they have their own traditional beliefs in which they hardly ever alter due to a different atmosphere. Some of the Hmong beliefs are they prefer traditional medicine, are culturally active, host ritual ceremonies, and are spirituality influenced. In the book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, refers to the Hmong culture and their beliefs on medicine while their baby Lia Lee, is suffering from epilepsy in which they have a hard decision. Traditional Hmong’s have their own medicinal beliefs which they obey prior to obtaining Western medicine. The gulf between Western medicine and Hmong health beliefs is an impossible abyss. Also, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down describes the life of Hmong refugees assimilating to the American culture which brings challenge to Hmong traditions. Traditional Hmong’s believe in their Shaman rather than western doctors, they choose to detain their treatment by hosting their rituals to save them. A shaman is “a person who acts as intermediary between the natural and supernatural worlds, using magic to cure illness, foretell the future, control spiritual forces, etc” (dictionary.com). Hmong individual’s have a belief that ancestral spirits, including the spirits of shamans, are reincarnated into the same family tree. Hmong consider being a shaman an honor because they carry the duty of helping mankind according to Hmong mythology. Differences between Hmong traditional beliefs and Western biomedical beliefs create a lack of understanding. Negative health care experiences result in Hmong community members’ mistrust and fear of Western medicine. However, when there’s mistrust between a doctor and a patient there could be lack of treatment because of the differences between our ... ... middle of paper ... ...ulture is changing, Hmong are not all the same, importance of family, privacy issues, mental health issues, and small talk is important (Barrett et al., 1998, 181-182) . Overall, Barrett and others concluded that in order to improve interaction between patient and doctor all they have to do is follow these easy steps. First, is to be kind and have a positive attitude towards the patient and interpreter. Second, learn about each other’s cultures prior to meeting, to better understand each other. Third, better explain diagnosis and treatment options to patients. Fourth, improve translation providers need to get better interpreters who could concisely explain the consultation. Fifth, involve the family to make more thorough decisions. Sixth, respect patient’s decisions and there are still other alternatives to improve interaction (Barrett et al., 1998, 182-183).
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down tells the story of a young Hmong girl stricken with epilepsy, her family, her doctors, and how misunderstandings between cultures can lead to tragedy. The title comes from the Hmong term for epilepsy, which translated, is “the spirit catches you and you fall down”. Anne Fadiman alternates between chapters on Hmong history or culture and chapters on the Lees, and specifically Lia. The condensed history of the Hmong portrayed here starts at their beginning, and traces their heritage, their movements, and why they do what they do as they flee from enemies to country to country. This record allows the reader to better understand the Lees and their situation without bogging him down with details that may
In conclusion, three things could have solved the cross-cultural problems between the Hmong and the American doctors. The doctors should have had more compassion toward the Hmong people, who have been discriminated and put down for very many years. They should have been more understanding toward the Hmong's belief and worked with and not undermine it. Lastly to compromise in all aspects in a relationship no matter what kind is a two way street, and if one party does not respect the other then the feeling will be reciprocated. You have to come to a middle ground or everything will fall apart like in Lia's case.
...ation could have been improved between doctors and patients in simple ways. Interpreters were used and children went to school and helped translate for family members. These helped communication somewhat, but it wasn’t enough. There may not have been any other way to help, but some people tried to and doctors tried to be patient with the Hmong to understand what they wanted and to make them understand what was going on.
In the book The Spirit Catches you and you Fall Down, ethnocentrism can also be seen. Throughout the book the family and the doctors have different ideas of medicine/healing techniques are often disagreed on. It’s important for the doctor to see that biomedicine has its own intentions of saving patient through standard procedures and beliefs. Understanding those terms will shed some light on the culture of the patient, which has their own intentions, beliefs, and rules as well. Breaking down ethnocentrism to find an agreement is a good goal to accomplish in order have successful prognosis and healing. In addition, shedding the ethnocentrism will allow the doctors to see the different cultural beliefs and not judge right away. Although, some cultural remedies may not always work, it’s wrong for people to have the mindset of ethnocentrism without even considering their beliefs first.
Fadiman, A. 1997. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
How would it feel to flee from post-war Communist forces, only to face an ethnocentric population of people in a new country? In Anne Fadiman's The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, a portrait of a disquieting, often times touching, ethnography (i.e. a book that details particular data of an extended period of time an anthropologist spent living closely with a community of individuals during his or her field work) of Fadiman's experience living in Merced, California, which was home to the largest population of Hmong refugees, such as the Lee family, from Laos who suffered mass confusion when trying to navigate the American health care system. Because the Hmong could not speak sufficient English until the children gained language skills native to the United States, residents of California were not accepting of the Hmong community. Fadiman aims to better understand how knowledge of illness among Hmong and Western medical practitioners differ, which pushes the reader to understand how the complicate medical treatment in the past as well as the present from a perspective of an American observing a Hmong family's struggle with the system. In America, it isn’t uncommon to be judged for your clothing, your house, or the amount of money your family makes, so it is easy to believe that the Hmong people were not easily accepted into American society. As a whole, ethnocentrism, or the tendency to believe that one's culture is superior to another, is one of America's weaknesses and this account proves ethnocentric behavior was prominent even in the 1970-80's when Fadiman was in the process of doing her fieldwork in post-Vietnam War Era California.
In expansion to these convictions, Hmong likewise have numerous traditions and folks that are negotiated by those of the American standard and therapeutic groups; for instance, some Hmong customarily perform custom creature sacrifice and in view of extremely particular entombment customs and the alarm of every human's numerous souls potentially getting away from, the accepted Hmong convictions don't consider anybody experiencing obtrusive restorative surgery. Hmong medicinal framework is dependent ...
The Hmong culture is evidence that health worlds exist. Health worlds exist in which health is understood in terms of its social and religious context (SITE BOOK). Spiritual beliefs in the Hmong culture are strongly connected to their view and description of health and illness (SITE 6). Illness in the Hmong culture is believed to be caused by evil spirits, a curse from an unhappy ancestor, or a separation of the soul from the body (California Department of Health Services, 2004). Paja Thao, the shaman in “The Split Horn” emphasizes his belief that a soul can separate from its body and the failure to return back to the body is a sign that the individual will become ill. Like the Chinese concept of ‘Ying and Yang’, Hmong people believe that the balance between the body and soul determines perfect health. Paja Thao believes that a body is attached to seven souls, and when there is a loss in a soul, illness occurs. In contrast to this holistic concept that the Hmong’s believe in, the Western culture is not able to predict when illnesses will occur. Instead, the dominant biomedical model of health focuses on preventing depression through a healthy life style, such as exercise and nutrition
If I was Foua Lee and her families’ social worker, I believe the biggest challenge I would face would be a lack of proper communication. Considering the Foua only knows Hmong in a verbal sense and not a written sense, it would be a challenge to have a beneficial conversation with her. In the case of discussing Lee’s medical needs, as a social worker I wouldn’t know how to stress the importance of her treatment to Foua and her husband. It is important for any social worker to not dwell on the difficulties of taking on a client like the Lee family. A good social worker takes the difficulties and develops a solution. I could hire a translator to come with me every time I meet with the Lee’s, or I could communicate with Foua via one of their English-speaking
As our textbook states, “Communication includes the willingness of individuals to share their thoughts and feelings” (Purnell, 2103, p. 21). To that end, the Hmong people are primarily illiterate. For this culture, they have a belief that Americans are rude because direct eye contact is maintained when conversing, as well as asking direct questions. In order for there to be successful education regarding the risks of cupping or coining as well as needle pricks, it is important to know that when speaking to someone of the Hmong culture to use quick glances without starting and to initiate a light conversation prior to asking anything regarding their beliefs, health, etc. The Purnell Model of Cultural Competence states that the domain of high-risk behaviors is one area that healthcare providers can make a significant impact on a patient’s health status (Purnell, 2013, p. 30). Advice to the parents, under these circumstances along with other obstacles that could potentially be faced due to the very different cultural aspects, would best be given via one-on-one or through family counseling techniques. From what I have learned so far from our readings, spirituality plays a very important role in a cultures health and well-being. Knowing the beliefs pertinent to the culture you are treating allows you as the provider to better assist them to attaining better health and well-being. Trust is also paramount and it is very clear that to interfere with a person’s spirituality could possibly hinder their physical recovery and actually cause physical
I know numerous East Africans and other minorities who fear and put off going to the hospital or clinic simply because they feel no one truly understands them on a more personal level and that their needs can’t and won’t be met entirely. According to the American Medical Association over 55% of health care providers agreed that, “minority patients generally receive lower quality health care” due to the lack of cultural competence. Those of different cultural backgrounds feel uneasy due to communication barriers and the lack of cultural competency amongst some health care providers. As a Somali-speaking nurse, I feel Somali patients, along with those of varying cultural backgrounds would be able to establish that sense of ease that’s needed when entering a health care facility or without having to feel the shame of having an interpreter hear about their personal health issues. According to Hospitals in Pursuit of Excellence,
The Hmong Culture of South Asia is a very interesting ethnic group. Between 300,000 to 600,000 Hmong live in Southeast Asian countries, such as Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar. About 8 million more live in the southern provinces of China. Since the Vietnam War ended in 1975, Hmong refugees from Southeast Asia have settled in Australia, France, Canada, and the United States. The largest Hmong refugee community lives in the United States with a population of about 110,000. The U.S. Department of state has tried to spread Hmong refugees out across the country to reduce the impact on any one region. Because Hmong families tend to be large in numbers, the community grows rapidly.
Professional providers of language in medicine or medical interpreters are often portrayed as invisible language facilitators (Angelelli 7). This means that their role is to convey the meaning into the other language between parties in the interaction which is accomplished through a conduit role or message converter role. The incremental intervention model of interpreting lets interpreters use a variety of roles including cultural broker and advocate role. Advocacy is a role that an interpreter takes that moves from interpreting the communication between speakers to acting on behalf of one of the speakers based on the interpreter’s understanding of what the speaker’s intended outcome is (NCIHC). It is challenging for medical interpreters to judge when to switch from their role as message converters to become patient advocates, and speak out in their own voice on behalf of a patient maintaining, at all times, high ethical and professional standards. When interpreters step in the role of patient advocate they become visible in the interaction going beyond the conduit role and becoming co-participants in the triad. What is the ethical role of the medical interpreter as an advocate for the Latino patient?; when is it appropriate to use advocacy?; how to make the decision?; what are the consequences of inappropriate use of advocacy role?; what are the boundaries?
In fact, Native American medicine men belief is firmly grounded in age-old traditions, legends and teachings. Healing and medical powers have existed since the very beginning of time according to Native American stories. Consequently they have handed down the tribe's antediluvian legends, which i...
Certain religious groups reject westernized medicine, like the Amish. Yet, for the most part most religions allow their medicinal practices to work in tandem with westernized medicine. For example, First Nations people tend to have a very holistic view when it comes to their surroundings and medicine. Aboriginal traditional approaches to health and wellness include the use of sacred herbs like sage or tobacco and traditional healers/medicine (pg. 5, Singh, 2009). However, they will not reject help from professionally trained doctors and medical staff. Much like other religions, First Nations put a strong emphasis on family/community. Consensus or decision-making is fairly common for them. A practitioner or medical staff member must remember to respect ceremonial objects such as tobacco or traditional blankets, include immediate family members when making a treatment decision, and to accommodate spiritual practices. Normally, organ donation is accepted UNLESS the organ is being removed from someone who is not deceased. First Nations’ believe that their bo...