Medicine Was Religion : A Holistic Approach Into Our Health Care System

Cultural implications were evaluated from the Hmong perspective, using the book “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down.” The assessment was based on the Hmong people and followed the Geiger and Davidhizar’s transcultural assessment model. Five areas were focused on in particular from their model: Environmental Control, Social Organization, Communication, Space, and Time Orientation. The result reaffirmed that there is a huge cultural divide that caused many errors in the care of young Lia Lee, including many miscommunications that could have been prevented. I briefly touch on the importance of cultural awareness in the health care industry and why it is important to be sensitive to the culture of others.

In addition, relying on a doctor who does not share the same beliefs as one does can become fearful. Trusting the doctor for full treatment is necessary but when from a different cultural background it can prevent them on trusting them. According to a research article, Cross- Cultural Medicine a Decade Later, clearly states “when the basic belief structure of biomedicine and another set of health beliefs differs radically, problems and frustrations almost inevitably arise” (Barker, 1992, p.249). The central purpose of the research was to show whether or not health beliefs between patient and doctor differs will they find it difficult to interpret the symptoms and treatment variations to accommodate their beliefs. However, the doctor having faith in one’s health beliefs can sometimes be beneficial for the patients because they’ll be fully understood and not misjudged as being crazy. As stated by the author, for the article Chinese Health Beliefs of Older Chinese in Canada, “the findings support the previous prescriptive knowledge about Chinese health beliefs and illustrate the intergroup socio-cultural diversity that health practitioners should acknowledge in their practice” (Lai, 2009, 38). Like the Chinese, Hmong’s too first go to their shaman for traditional treatment rather than going to the doctor; to them an illness and their healing is more of a spiritual thing that

Anne Fadiman’s novel, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, addresses key concerns regarding health and medicinal relationships with cultural beliefs. She challenges readers to consider what is known about western medicinal practices and beliefs, based on science, and recognize its effectiveness when paired with cultural understanding. This novel portrays some of the greatest medicinal and health challenges and cultural failures of western societies. There were several cultural competency themes integrated throughout the book, however, it surprised me at how distant western practices and the Hmong’s healing methods were at the beginning. It seemed as if it would be a stretch to form a connection between these two extremities,

The doctors assuming the Lee were giving their daughter her medications, were surprised to not see levels of the medications in her blood. Dan Murphy who was one of Lia’s doctor questioned the parents and he learned that due to their cultural beliefs, Lia’s parents have not been administering her with the proper medicine. Where Lia’s mother believes she is doing the right thing for her daughter, Murphy has sympathy for the mother and told Fadiman “I remember having a little bit of awe of how differently we looked at the world”. A key feature of the Hmong is that they have no interest in being rule, do not like to be told what to do, and are rarely persuaded by the customs of other culture. The mistrust and open hostility between the medical staff and the Lee family seemed to overshadow Lia’s disease. Both side obviously loves Lia and wants her healthy but neither was willing to compromised and meet half way.

There are several hindrances that immigrant’s population encounter when they migrated to a new country. For sure, obtaining a good quality of health care is one of the most difficulties that the immigrants will be faced in the new country due to several reasons such as language barrier, cultural beliefs and lack of education. These elements could absolutely complicate the medical system. One of the immigrant population who began to migrate gradually to the United States in the 18th century is the Hmong. They arrived in the United States with their traditional customs. Hmong culture, in general, is entirely different from the way of life in the United States. In particularly, Hmong’s health care has completely different systems of health in the America. Their health care depends extremely on their traditional beliefs which are seeing illness as animism matter. On the other hand, the Western medical system is rationalism that means the medical system relies primarily on biomedical beliefs. As I result, the contrast between Hmong traditional beliefs and Western biomedical beliefs built a lack of understanding of both sides

With the loud noise of a slamming door the family believed that Lia’s spirit had been frightened and left the body causing the sickness she was experiencing. The family saw the seizures as an illness of some distinction. In the Hmong culture epileptics often become shamans. The chapter goes on to tell the child’s story about multiple trips to the Hospital Emergency Room. It speaks about the lack of communication surrounding the child’s symptoms. The family is unable, and the medical team unaware of the lack of communication about medical dosages. The doctors have no idea about parental refusal to give certain medicines due to mistrust, misunderstandings, and behavioral side effects. The doctors do not attempt to develop more empathy with the traditional Hmong lifestyle or try to learn more about the Hmong culture. The dichotomy between the Hmong's perceived spiritual factors and the Americans' perceived scientific factors comprises the overall theme.

Lias final seizure was a horrifying yet blameless conclusion to her extremely short life. At only four years old she went into an extremely violent seizure that lasted for hours. Nurses and doctors were unable to stop her seizing due to her size (Fadiman 143). When they were finally successful in stopping her seizure she had almost no brain activity left, and was declared brain dead and sent home to die, (Fadima 211). Following all of the previous events of her life it can be easily assumed that the Lees did not give Lia her medicine, or the doctors and MCMC complicated her regime, causing her symptoms to worsen, but that is not the case. Lia had her final seizure due to sepsis, not because she was epileptic. (Fadiman 147). The fact that her organs were shutting down was hidden by a lack of symptoms. Despite everyone finally doing what they needed to do, Lia’s fate had already been sealed at that point. The ultimate cause of her brain death was nobody 's fault at all, and it had nothing to do with culture, it was just an unfortunate accident.

Born in China, I grew up with Western medicine alongside thousands-years-old Traditional Chinese Medicine. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, diseases are thought to be due to an imbalance of life energy force (qi). While it has curative treatments, such as herbal medicine and acupuncture, there’s a greater emphasis on disease prevention through balanced diet, meditation, and exercise. My upbringing meant I can appreciate that there might different approaches to medicine and healing. I moved to the US when I was eleven years old and quickly became bilingual. Being fluent in two languages makes it easier for me to not only communicate with more people, but also form deeper connections through a common language. I had the opportunity to experience two cultures, whose differences and similarities have only enriched my life. I believe my exposure to a different type of medicine as well as my immigrant experience helped to shape my worldview and can bring educational benefits to Georgetown.

Lia Lee born and raised in America, but brought up as a Hmong, faced health issues specifically epilepsy. Her parents who practice the Hmong culture had a different view on how to handle Lia critical condition. Hmong did not believe in traditional medicine but believed in Txiv neeb, person with a healing spirit. Not only do they believe in a person with healing spirit to help cure their illness but also consider epilepsy as power; “Their seizures are thought to be evidence that they have the power to perceive things other people cannot see, as well as facilitating their entry into trances, a prerequisite for their journeys into the realm of the unseen” (Fadiman, 1998, p.21). Right at this moment is where you can tell conflict is going to occur.

These religious and spiritual influences play a major role in the Hispanics health, illness and daily life. In much a similar manner, the Native American Indian family adopts the cultural beliefs to associate with illness and health. They believe that a person’s state of exists when he or she exists in harmony with nature and sickness occurs when an imbalance between the natural or supernatural forces and the sick individual exists (Askim-Lovseth & Aldana, 2010). Traditional health believes and practices involving healing ceremonies and rituals restore balance when illness happens. “These can be conducted by their traditional medicine men or women, who are thought to have compelling powers, the ability to read minds, and know-how in concocting medicine, drugs and poisons.” For the white young family, the cultural belief of invincibility and youth are the driving force behind health prevention (Askim-Lovseth & Aldana, 2010). “Focus on the temporary is regularised, while thinking about health is assigned to an adult person where family accountabilities pertain.” Protecting against illness or disease does not feature into their daily lives. Disease or illness is something that is insubstantial and distant, and unimaginable to their young, resilient bodies and thus irrelevant (Edelman & Mandle, 2010).

According to Lia’s parents, they believe that Lia’s soul was taken by a dab in a different realm after her sister slammed a door. In Hmong culture, having seizures is associated with having honor and the power to heal. Her parents believed that she should be treated with her culture’s holistic remedies, which includes: animal scarifies, multiple herbs, and rituals. By taking Lia to the hospital, they believed American medicine and practice was the cause of her deterioration. They reacted by not

“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.

I also believe it is important to have bilingual interpreters who understand both cultures, therefore giving the ability for both the doctor and patient to grasp a good understanding towards the treatments and procedures. Since there can be many side effects to medication, it will be beneficial to combine both Western-Medicine and traditional healing remedies. It is also important to understand if there could have been a different outcome of Lia’s tragic ending, making the reader question if the outcome would have been different of the doctor was a different person, who was willing to compromise to the parents complaints in order to get full cooperation towards healing Lia. We can see examples from book where programs integrated both Western medicine with traditional healing, leading to a better understanding and education for both the medical staff and the patients. I believe this is a issue that should be solved, but has not got attention since minorities usually face this problem in

The spiritual significance of illness and suffering is a topic Christians continue to grapple with, as Larchet points out in The Theology of Illness. Scripture offers a wealth of wisdom and cues for understanding illness, health, and healing from a Christian perspective. Larchet analyzes the various and often contradictory Christian positions on health and illness, revealing how attitudes have shifted over time and with changes in medical technology, practice, and ethics. For example, St. Barsanuphius presents a comprehensive analysis of the spiritual significance of illness and suffering. One view holds that illness signifies a lack of faith; another presents illness in terms of a person who is offered the opportunity to develop a stronger faith, or whose faith is being put to a test like the story of Job. Ultimately, the latter remains the most helpful way to approach illness and healing from a Christian perspective. The essence of Christian health care is that, "Healing itself, while resulting from natural processes, actually comes from God," (Larchet 116).

saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb . . .’