How Traditional Anishinaabe Medicine Can Be Integrated Into Western Medicine Essay

Application of the Transcultural Analysis to an American Indian culture is accomplished through known cultural beliefs and practices. However, it is important to note that while each culture may have defining characteristics, family and individual practices may vary. To be an effective provider implementation must be tailored to individual needs. Starting with cultural awareness and building a care plan fit for the individual is ideal in the healthcare setting.

Though American Indians are enjoying an independent public health system with above $3 billion funds provided by Congress annually for delivering healthcare services to them, still figure and facts on health status of American Indians reveal that they are facing many difficulties and have to suffer from diverse type of illness and disease at a misappropriate level. Since long it was identified by medical communities that there are wide spread diseases diabetes, alcoholism, tuberculosis, suicide, unintentional injuries, and other health conditions among American Indian and they are dying of these diseases at shocking rates (American Heart Association [AHA], 2010). Through this essay I want to discuss the healthcare status of American Indians in the perspective of their culture as how it impacted and lead to develop mistrust between amongst the medical community and American Indians.

Physicians, nurses, specialists, and other qualified medical personnel are provided to care for and treat many patients each day. Unfortunately, the number of patients exceeds the available medical personnel and appointment slots. Another problem for patients is the availability of service to the tribal area. Many Indians live in remote areas and do not possess the ability to seek medical attention because of lack of transportation resources. This is a major problem for many Native Americans, as many patients will not seek medical treatment and services until it becomes a medical emergency. For example, many obstetric patients will only receive two or three prenatal visits, or many patients will remain ill or only seek treatment after the illness has progressed to a more serious condition. Aronovitz, (2005).

erosion of the Aboriginal culture.(chp.2). Restrictions placed on the cultural practices of the Aboriginal people ultimately led to the abatement of the Aboriginal traditional medicines.(p88). Losing their freedom to practice traditional therapeutics, the Aboriginal people eventually had to adapt to the culturally inappropriate ways of western medicines. The purpose of this paper is to examine the advantages of Aboriginal healing methods for the Aboriginal people, as well as to explain why these traditional methods continued to persist long after western style medicines were introduced.

“In the Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down”, Anne Fadiman explores the subject of cross cultural misunderstanding. This she effectively portrays using Lia, a Hmong, her medical history, the misunderstandings created by obstacles of communication, the religious background, the battle with modernized medical science and cultural anachronisms. Handling an epileptic child, in a strange land in a manner very unlike the shamanistic animism they were accustomed to, generated many problems for her parents. The author dwells on the radically different cultures to highlight the necessity for medical communities to have an understanding of the immigrants when treating them.

Healthcare is an ever changing entity with an ever changing population of clients. In current day 2016, the United Sates has become a melting pot of many different cultural backgrounds, which has led to changes within the system to accommodate the patient base. Unfortunately, not all changes have been able to effectively reach any and all persons from every background. We still see language and cultural barriers that have direct correlation to the inability to seek healthcare and or the ability to change cultural perspectives to ensure healthy lifestyles. Within this paper, the health of American Indian and Alaskan Native populations will be discussed along with the barriers to care and the

Indigenous individuals have many holistic approaches to healing which includes ceremonies, rituals and herbal remedies to cure their disease or illness. Through this holistic approach, the healer tries to connect the individual’s body to the environment so that they can be cured mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Every indigenous people manages to find the balance within themselves and the nature. The indigenous people practices the non-westernized medicalization, just like the Ayuverdic medicine. It all contains natural ingredients of herbs, where it will be applied on the affected area and used within the ceremony of healing.

The Heritage Assessment Tool is designed to “give nurses an understanding of the patient’s traditional health and illness beliefs and practices so that culturally appropriate interventions can be initiated. The tool is a series of twenty nine questions. These twenty nine questions are designed to determine a patient’s ethnic, cultural, and religious background,” (Flowers, D.L., 2005). Within this paper, the author will summarize the assessment results of three different families, all varying in ethnic backgrounds and culture. These results will then be used to elaborate on how a nurse would

The healthcare workers providing assistance to the American Indian population today are most likely non-Natives (Warne, 2007). The cultural knowledge of these providers for the American Indian is not vast and results in less quality care. More

Historically medicine was practised within the confines of an individual’s culture and ethnic group. Community doctors generally treated people of similar cultural and ethnic beliefs in their local town, clan or extended whanau group. Often religious beliefs dictated what treatments were provided and tribal influences included the

Providing health care is a difficult and a complicated matter itself. Cultural and language barriers add up complications to the mare. As western medicine has developed into the main method of dealing illntter

For the Igbo, the third largest ethnic group in South-Eastern Nigeria (The World Factbook - Population), folk medicine remains crucial to everyday life. Medicine is vital for maintaining health, and to the Igbo, the Dibia, holds

Medical anthropology addresses the symbolic, narrative, and ethical dimension of healing, medicine and medical technology in many ways. One way anthropologists address these dimensions is by exploring how local and international communities view wellness, illness, disease and healing through different perspectives. Their goal is to examine how communities are able to function individually as well as to look for themes within the structure and systems of separate communities and cultures. Anthropologists spend a lot of time observing and discussing the theme of treatment within various communities.

Public health therefore begins with the acquisition and application of, in Coughlin’s view, ‘scientific knowledge’. If this knowledge does not represent the ‘truth’ about indigenous peoples then the restoration and protection of the Public Health of indigenous peoples is in jeopardy. Debates about the nature of knowledge and the search for truth so as to improve our conditions have raged since time immemorial and

However, comparing modern medicine to indigenous medicine, the Indigenous do not only look for a temporary remedy but they look at the long-term effects of the physical and spiritual elements of the patient. In modern medicine, they solely look at the physical aspects of patient and how to fix it as fast