Applied Medical Anthropology:
Applied Medical Anthropology can be defined as the “application of anthropological theories and methods to health interventions, for example, in international and domestic health projects” (Joralemon 2010: 137). Medical anthropology can be applied in the United States in many ways. First, they contribute their time and knowledge on public and community health projects. Second, anthropologists consult for health care centers and participate in training health care professionals (Joralemon 2010: 95). Given that anthropologists apply their ethnographic knowledge to most situations, they are called upon to assist with the “assessment of health needs, the planning of culturally acceptable interventions, and the resolution of communication difficulties between health workers and patients” (Joralemon 2010: 96). Anthropologists are teaching doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals to provide essential services for different cultures or ethnic groups. An applied medical anthropologist is in charge of researching and identifying different health and healing practices to better assist health professionals with their treatment plan. They also help “to extend the physician's ability to control his/her patients and to depoliticize health problems by treating them as individual rather than social problems" (Joralemon 2010: 98). Understanding the culture of patients is essential in teaching them how to prevent illnesses and return them back to health.
Applied Medical Anthropology in Ann Fadiman's book:
Applied medical anthropology was not seen in Ann Fadiman’s book The spirit catches you and you fall down. The Doctor’s who took care of Lia were not respectful of her Hmong culture. They made no attempt to understand and interpret what the family and culture was all about. There were incidences where an interpreter was present, but the language barrier remained between Lia’s parents and the health care professionals. If an applied anthropologist had been present for Lia and her family, I believe their case would have been much different. The anthropologist would have made sure there was an interpreter available whenever Lia and her family arrived at the hospital. Also, when medications were being described to Lia’s parents, the interpreter could have explained more thoroughly what they needed to do. A major issue in this story was the miscommunication between the medical professionals and the Hmong people. Had this been solved with an interpreter, I truly believe Lia would have been cured and the tension would have been nonexistent. However, some tension was also caused by the misunderstanding of the Hmong culture. No one took the time to research the culture and what they believed in. American doctors taking care of Lia felt that what they learned in medical school is the only way to practice medicine. The Hmong healing practices was the wrong way to them. In the book, the author described using a conjoint treatment, “that is, integrate Western allopathic medicine with traditional healing arts…conjoint treatment does more than promote trust between the doctor and the patient; because illness is so profoundly affected by psychosocial factors, it actually improves the outcome” (Fadiman 1997: 266). One of the doctors in the book was seen as a xenophobic. His name was Neil Ernst and he served as Lia’s main doctor, when she was brought to Merced Community Medical Center. He was a xenophobic because he was not knowledgeable of other cultures and believed that he should be able to save patients using western medicine. An anthropologist could have been used in the hospital to plan a culturally acceptable intervention for the Hmong family to practice on Lia. They would have respected the health care professionals for allowing them to practice Hmong healing ceremonies because spiritual healing is what they really believed in.
Applied Medical Anthropology can be defined as the “application of anthropological theories and methods to health interventions, for example, in international and domestic health projects” (Joralemon 2010: 137). Medical anthropology can be applied in the United States in many ways. First, they contribute their time and knowledge on public and community health projects. Second, anthropologists consult for health care centers and participate in training health care professionals (Joralemon 2010: 95). Given that anthropologists apply their ethnographic knowledge to most situations, they are called upon to assist with the “assessment of health needs, the planning of culturally acceptable interventions, and the resolution of communication difficulties between health workers and patients” (Joralemon 2010: 96). Anthropologists are teaching doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals to provide essential services for different cultures or ethnic groups. An applied medical anthropologist is in charge of researching and identifying different health and healing practices to better assist health professionals with their treatment plan. They also help “to extend the physician's ability to control his/her patients and to depoliticize health problems by treating them as individual rather than social problems" (Joralemon 2010: 98). Understanding the culture of patients is essential in teaching them how to prevent illnesses and return them back to health.
Applied Medical Anthropology in Ann Fadiman's book:
Applied medical anthropology was not seen in Ann Fadiman’s book The spirit catches you and you fall down. The Doctor’s who took care of Lia were not respectful of her Hmong culture. They made no attempt to understand and interpret what the family and culture was all about. There were incidences where an interpreter was present, but the language barrier remained between Lia’s parents and the health care professionals. If an applied anthropologist had been present for Lia and her family, I believe their case would have been much different. The anthropologist would have made sure there was an interpreter available whenever Lia and her family arrived at the hospital. Also, when medications were being described to Lia’s parents, the interpreter could have explained more thoroughly what they needed to do. A major issue in this story was the miscommunication between the medical professionals and the Hmong people. Had this been solved with an interpreter, I truly believe Lia would have been cured and the tension would have been nonexistent. However, some tension was also caused by the misunderstanding of the Hmong culture. No one took the time to research the culture and what they believed in. American doctors taking care of Lia felt that what they learned in medical school is the only way to practice medicine. The Hmong healing practices was the wrong way to them. In the book, the author described using a conjoint treatment, “that is, integrate Western allopathic medicine with traditional healing arts…conjoint treatment does more than promote trust between the doctor and the patient; because illness is so profoundly affected by psychosocial factors, it actually improves the outcome” (Fadiman 1997: 266). One of the doctors in the book was seen as a xenophobic. His name was Neil Ernst and he served as Lia’s main doctor, when she was brought to Merced Community Medical Center. He was a xenophobic because he was not knowledgeable of other cultures and believed that he should be able to save patients using western medicine. An anthropologist could have been used in the hospital to plan a culturally acceptable intervention for the Hmong family to practice on Lia. They would have respected the health care professionals for allowing them to practice Hmong healing ceremonies because spiritual healing is what they really believed in.