A second approach used by anthropologists is ethnomedical. The ethnomedical approach consists of studying and comparing how medicine is practiced by various cultures. What may be considered traditional in the West could seem absurd to the indigenous people of the Amazon rainforest and vice versa. There are a few major areas studied when looking at the medicines of different cultures as mentioned in the lectures of week 3 and these include; descriptions of the healing process/practices, explanatory model of health and illness, health-seeking behaviors, and the efficiency of these health systems. In order to find the best treatment for a patient suffering from Generalized Anxiety disorder or any other illness it would be important to know about their culture so that both the patient and medical professional can find a comfortable yet effective solution.
So if the ethnomedical approach is focused on different "cultures" we must first define what we mean by "cultures". Culture is defined by dictionary.com as the behaviors and beliefs that are characteristic of a specific social, ethnic, or age group. Cultures have different ways of viewing illness and it is important to contextualize illness within a given cultural system so that people share a basic understanding about what is happening to others as well as themselves, if cultures did not contextualize illness there would be a lot of confusion and it would be hard to recognize, let alone treat illnesses if everyone is not on the same page. In Western culture and many other cultures all over the world the feeling of excessive worry is known as anxiety. How each culture treats anxiety varies however and we can use Arthur Kleinmans model of healthcare to describe some of the differences.
So if the ethnomedical approach is focused on different "cultures" we must first define what we mean by "cultures". Culture is defined by dictionary.com as the behaviors and beliefs that are characteristic of a specific social, ethnic, or age group. Cultures have different ways of viewing illness and it is important to contextualize illness within a given cultural system so that people share a basic understanding about what is happening to others as well as themselves, if cultures did not contextualize illness there would be a lot of confusion and it would be hard to recognize, let alone treat illnesses if everyone is not on the same page. In Western culture and many other cultures all over the world the feeling of excessive worry is known as anxiety. How each culture treats anxiety varies however and we can use Arthur Kleinmans model of healthcare to describe some of the differences.
Kleinman's model (pictured above) consists of 3 sectors of healthcare that people turn to depending on how they interpret their illness. Kleinman's three sectors are popular, folk, and professional. The popular sector would be turning to a friend or family member after recognizing the onset of an illness, in general this would be a non-life threatening illness. One would ask a person who is not a healthcare professional for advice and or tips. In this sector you could also use an online databases such as WebMd for self diagnosis. A person suffering from GAD may ask a family member who also suffers from or knows of someone who suffering from GAD for tricks or tips to controlling their constant worries. Sometimes however people are not satisfied or do not see results from this advice. They then may choose to turn to the next sector in Kleinman's model, folk. In the folk sector people turn to a healer or healing agency like a Shaman for example. This is not a medical professional but they may suggest solutions such as herbal remedies. The folk sector may not be very popular in the United States but for some cultures it is the only sector considered. For example, indigenous people throughout polynesia use the kava root as a sedative for anxiety this is a natural remedy that comes straight from their natural environment. The third sector one may turn to in the professional sector which seems to be the sector of choice for Western culture. The professional sector includes educated medical professionals such as doctors, nurses, physician assistants, etc., who diagnose and treat illness from a more biological approach. For those suffering from GAD who chose the professional sector they may be prescribed medications such as Xanax or Celebrex. [The banner above pictures some different representations of the 3 sectors]
Illness is not the only concept that is contextualized by different cultures, the "body" is as well. It is very important to the diagnosis and the treatment of Generalized Anxiety disorder to define what is mean't by the "body". The body is categorized in three ways in the ethnomedical approach; the individual, social and political body. The individual "body" is a personal understanding of ones body, the social "body" is seeing the body as symbol with which people understand their environment, and the political body is the definition of the body by society as described in the Lock and Scheper-Hughes article.
Illness is not the only concept that is contextualized by different cultures, the "body" is as well. It is very important to the diagnosis and the treatment of Generalized Anxiety disorder to define what is mean't by the "body". The body is categorized in three ways in the ethnomedical approach; the individual, social and political body. The individual "body" is a personal understanding of ones body, the social "body" is seeing the body as symbol with which people understand their environment, and the political body is the definition of the body by society as described in the Lock and Scheper-Hughes article.
Bibliography
"Kava Plants Works for Anxiety: Research." 9 News Access (May 2013). Accessed August 9, 2013. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/health/2013/05/13/15/22/kava-plant-works-for-anxiety-research