Case Study #2 Hmong Culture and Western Medicine PDF

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CASE STUDY #2: HMONG CULTURE AND WESTERN MEDICINE

Case Study #2: Hmong Culture and Western Medicine Adam Salvosa ANTHRO 443 Section #4 Professor Zane 5 March 2021

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CASE STUDY #2: HMONG CULTURE AND WESTERN MEDICINE

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Case Study #2: Hmong Culture and Western Medicine Introduction Throughout the world, the US has revolutionized medicine, accomplishing significant public health achievements from vaccines to recognizing tobacco use as a health hazard. The US continues to stand as one of the world’s leading powers in medicine and public health, with many of its citizens agreeing without many complaints. This has led the US healthcare system and its doctors to become very confident in their work. However, that confidence has also led the US to become very ethnocentric, especially regarding how they deliver medical care. In “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down,” Fadiman tells a story about the Lees and their daughter Lia and her struggle against epilepsy. Throughout the book, the Lees and their doctors deal with a constant conflict when trying to deliver the best care for Lia. As the story continues, we begin to realize how much of a role their culture plays regarding Lia’s health. With the parent’s rooted belief in Hmong culture and their doctor’s belief in Western medicine, their conflict begins to affect Lia’s overall care. This paper aims to analyze the clash between Hmong culture and Western medicine and how this affected Lia’s care. Hmong Perspective of Western Medicine Throughout the book, Fadiman goes on to explore the Hmong culture and their views on Western medicine. Fadiman describes how the Hmong people have grown to distrust Western Medicine from myths and rumors. In the story, Fadiman shares a story of a woman returning from Minnesota back to Ban Vinani. Once she returned, the other Hmong people began to ask her about the US and the rumors associated with the practice of medicine. The rumors were interesting, asking if shamans were illegal in the US, if doctors ate Hmong people’s organs, and why doctors extracted blood from their patients. These stories helped illustrate how different the

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two cultures were in terms of medical practices. Fadiman further explains the distrust the Hmong people have towards Western Medicine as they believed that many of their practices were harming their patients rather than helping them. This distrust stemmed from how different each culture viewed medicine. For example, Fadiman shares that the Hmong people believe that each person has a limited amount of blood, so any amount of blood taken from somebody can be extremely dangerous. Another example is shown when Fadiman discusses how the Hmong believe that if somebody were to go under anesthesia or become unconscious, this would invite evil spirits to steal their souls. With the US disagreeing with both these notions, it is easier to see why the two cultures disagree on how to deliver care. This disagreement and lack of trust between the two cultures translate to how the Lees see the doctors and how they see them. Due to the two cultures having little understanding of each other, this leads to conflict between the doctors and the Lees. Lia’s doctors, Neil and Peggy, begin to get more involved and prescribe her a mix of fourteen different medications with precise instructions. The medication regimen was extremely complex, and the doctors needed Lia’s parents, Foua and Nao, to give them to her. The doctors began to teach Foua and Nao how to give the medication correctly. However, since the instructions were so complicated with the parent’s inability to speak or understand English, it was challenging for them to follow through. This led to the parents not being able to give her daughter the medication she needed. This complication between the two parties led them to both feel confused. The doctors became frustrated with Lees as they were not used to noncompliant patients. It got to the point where Peggy even thought Foua was stupid for not being able to follow through with the orders. However, from the Lees’ point of view, it is entirely understandable why they could not follow through. If the doctors were able to consider the Lees’ position and background, it would have

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been possible for them to teach them the proper medication regimen. Sadly, due to the doctors’ lack of accommodation, this possibility just led to further misunderstandings affecting Lia’s health negatively. Further in the story, a social worker named Jeanine realized how difficult this regiment was for the parents. She then took the time to properly teach them, bridging the cultural gap. This shows how much of a difference adapting to one’s culture makes and how it is possible to treat anyone as long as you consider their background and culture. Conclusion In this story, Fadiman does a remarkable job illustrating the struggles that other cultures face. The Lees are faced with constant cultural barriers, and due to Western medicine showing its inability to accommodate, it further leads to more and more struggle. From an outside perspective, one may disregard the Lees’ background and state they were just negligent in hurting their daughter. However, after looking from both perspectives, they indeed did the best they could. After Jeanine was able to help Foua and Nao Kao by considering their cultural barriers, this helped demonstrate how important it is for Western medicine to adapt and learn to understand others. While Western medicine has proven to be one of the leading countries in medicine, they also need to realize that not everybody agrees with them. Through proper consideration of another cultural background and work to understand each other, it is possible to bridge the cultural divide.

CASE STUDY #2: HMONG CULTURE AND WESTERN MEDICINE References Fadiman, A. (2012). The spirit catches you and you fall down: A Hmong child, her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

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