This section of the website will focus on the ethnomedical approach within medical anthropology. This particular approach is interesting because it focuses on how illness is identified, understood, and treated in a cultural context, as explained by Taz Karim in video lecture for class. Cultures around the world define illnesses differently and have a multitude of treatment options available, such as: biomedicine, message therapy, chiropractic, herbology, acupuncture, psychiatry to name a few. Taz also pointed out how medical anthropologist, Arthur Kleinman, understood and defined the three sectors of healthcare that people revert to depending on how they view their illness. Those sectors are the popular sector, the folk sector, and the professional sector.
Beginning with the popular sector, someone might stick to this sector if they view their illness as something not necessarily immediately life threatening. Treatment advice and help can come from friends, family, or even referencing online databases and often leads to self diagnosis. The second sector that people revert to if the popular sector does not fulfill their needs is the folk sector. Within this region of healthcare people seek out the help of others who are seen as healers, but not necessarily medical professionals. The folk sector of healers can be comprised of sacred or secular and range from shamans and other religious healers to holistic healers. Lastly there is the professional sector of healthcare. In Western society this form of healthcare is the most widely used and understood because of the value the majority of Westerners place into the biological approach of health. The professional sector is legally licensed and provide a vast array of treatment options usually focusing on treating the biological symptoms.
Beginning with the popular sector, someone might stick to this sector if they view their illness as something not necessarily immediately life threatening. Treatment advice and help can come from friends, family, or even referencing online databases and often leads to self diagnosis. The second sector that people revert to if the popular sector does not fulfill their needs is the folk sector. Within this region of healthcare people seek out the help of others who are seen as healers, but not necessarily medical professionals. The folk sector of healers can be comprised of sacred or secular and range from shamans and other religious healers to holistic healers. Lastly there is the professional sector of healthcare. In Western society this form of healthcare is the most widely used and understood because of the value the majority of Westerners place into the biological approach of health. The professional sector is legally licensed and provide a vast array of treatment options usually focusing on treating the biological symptoms.
Posted above, there is a snip from the Defeat Diabetes Foundation
website that gives links to many different states/regions that allow people to seek out support groups to talk about their diabetes, they even emphasize the "importance to have support from family, friends and from other people with diabetes". This illustrates the popular sector of healthcare because it allows people to seek out help from others who may or may not have the disease and get their feedback without necessarily utilizing a medical professional. Also, according to WebMD, there are alternatives to diabetes treatment,. The Alternative is, "A health treatment that is not classified as standard Western medical practice. The category encompasses a variety of disciplines that include everything from diet and exercise to mental conditioning and lifestyle changes. Examples include acupuncture, guided imagery, chiropractic treatments, yoga, hypnosis, biofeedback, aromatherapy, relaxation, herbal remedies, massage, and many others." This popular sector resource, WebMD. also tells of different supplements and plant foods that can be used for diabetic treatments and include: chromium, magnesium, vanadium, buckwheat, okra, peas, and sage to name a few. |
As for diabetes help within the folk sector, I was able to find a video of a man giving a presentation to a group of people on how to rid themselves of diabetes without the use of traditional medicines. The man's name is DeWayne McCulley and he is actually an engineer, not a medical professional. The video is in segments on YouTube, but here is the first section of his presentation to the right. DeWayne explains how he went into a coma because of diabetic complications and how the professional sector of healthcare failed for him. He took matters into his own hands and develop a different treatment method for diabetes that involves changing the way you look at the disease and lifestyle alterations.
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The professional sector of healthcare, especially in the United States, handles diabetes more than the other two healthcare options simply because of the need of insulin and other related treatments that you must rely on a medical professional for. According to the American Diabetes Association, there are a number of medical professionals that might be useful to someone with diabetes. Your primary care provider will be able to help you get on track with treatment options or refer you to a specialist for treatment. A nurse educator (RN) can have a special training in diabetes and can teach someone about medications, coping strategies, healthy habits. There is even a type of doctor called an endocrinologist who is a specialist in diabetes and hormones like insulin.
Relating to the concept of popular, folk, and professional sectors of healthcare, as outlined by Taz Karim in the lecture material from ANP 204, the work of Nancy Sheper-Hughes and Margaret Lock split the body up into three different parts: The individual body, the social body, and the body politic. This breakdown can help for an understanding of diseases in a more efficient way. The individual body is what most people in Western culture are familiar with; it deals with how various parts of the physical body work or relate to one another. The social body looks at how the body can be viewed as a type of representation, such as a machine or a piece of artwork. Different cultures will view the body or represent it differently. The body politic refers to control of groups of individuals and can regulate different aspects in order to spread health throughout the population as a whole. The three aspects of the body all have an impact on health, especially for people who suffer from diabetes. For example, national healthcare policies can regulate the medical field and what kinds of treatments are administered to patients. The individual is wrapped up, or connected, to the body politic because of this. Depending on the type of culture, the individual suffering from diabetes might view their body as something pure and may view insulin injections as a treatment option as violation and as a result would need to seek out other possible solutions.
The word "culture" is used to help describe many different aspects to a society, but what does culture really mean and how important is it when analyzing parts of a society? According to Karmeen D. Kulkarni, culture can be defined as, "the knowledge, beliefs, customs, and habits a group of people share. These are not inherited behaviors, but learned. Culture is passed on from generation to generation." Context is extremely important to consider within any
subfield of anthropology. I initially understood the importance of context while studying archaeology because the main goal of an archaeologist is to use artifacts in context with the surroundings in order to learn something about a particular people or culture. Without the context, the artifact is in most cases, useless. This same kind of thought process holds true for medical anthropologists in the realm of ethnomedical studies.
Relating to the concept of popular, folk, and professional sectors of healthcare, as outlined by Taz Karim in the lecture material from ANP 204, the work of Nancy Sheper-Hughes and Margaret Lock split the body up into three different parts: The individual body, the social body, and the body politic. This breakdown can help for an understanding of diseases in a more efficient way. The individual body is what most people in Western culture are familiar with; it deals with how various parts of the physical body work or relate to one another. The social body looks at how the body can be viewed as a type of representation, such as a machine or a piece of artwork. Different cultures will view the body or represent it differently. The body politic refers to control of groups of individuals and can regulate different aspects in order to spread health throughout the population as a whole. The three aspects of the body all have an impact on health, especially for people who suffer from diabetes. For example, national healthcare policies can regulate the medical field and what kinds of treatments are administered to patients. The individual is wrapped up, or connected, to the body politic because of this. Depending on the type of culture, the individual suffering from diabetes might view their body as something pure and may view insulin injections as a treatment option as violation and as a result would need to seek out other possible solutions.
The word "culture" is used to help describe many different aspects to a society, but what does culture really mean and how important is it when analyzing parts of a society? According to Karmeen D. Kulkarni, culture can be defined as, "the knowledge, beliefs, customs, and habits a group of people share. These are not inherited behaviors, but learned. Culture is passed on from generation to generation." Context is extremely important to consider within any
subfield of anthropology. I initially understood the importance of context while studying archaeology because the main goal of an archaeologist is to use artifacts in context with the surroundings in order to learn something about a particular people or culture. Without the context, the artifact is in most cases, useless. This same kind of thought process holds true for medical anthropologists in the realm of ethnomedical studies.
References
DeWayne McCulley. "Medical Conference: Reverse, Cure, Defeat Type 2 [The Diabetes Engineer]. Accessed August 8, 2013. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ECUOu2rFto.
"Diabetes Health Center- Alternative Treatments for Diabetes," WebMD. Accessed August 8, 2013, http://diabetes.webmd.com/alternative-medicine.
"Diabetes Support Groups and Education Programs," Defeat Diabetes Foundation, Accessed August 8, 2013, http://www.defeatdiabetes.org/self_management/text.asp?id=Diabetes_Support_Gro.
Karmeen D. Kulkarni, "Food, Culture, and Diabetes in the United States," Clinical Diabetes vol. 22 no. 4 (2004): 190-192. Accessed August 8, 2013, doi: 10.2337/diaclin.22.4.190. http://clinical.diabetesjournals.org/content/22/4/190.full.
"Living with Diabetes- Your Health Care Team," American Diabetes
Association, Accessed August 8, 2013, http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/treatment-and-care/who-is-on-your-healthcare-team/your-health-care-team.html.
Taz Karim. "Week 3: Lecture 1." Michigan State University ANP 204- Introduction to Medical Anthropology. Accessed August 8, 2013, http://anthropology.msu.edu/anp204-us13/schedule/week-3-lecture-1/.
Taz Karim. "Week 3: Lecture 2." Michigan State University ANP 204- Introduction
to Medical Anthropology. Accessed August 8, 2013, http://anthropology.msu.edu/anp204-us13/schedule/week-3-lecture-2/.
DeWayne McCulley. "Medical Conference: Reverse, Cure, Defeat Type 2 [The Diabetes Engineer]. Accessed August 8, 2013. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ECUOu2rFto.
"Diabetes Health Center- Alternative Treatments for Diabetes," WebMD. Accessed August 8, 2013, http://diabetes.webmd.com/alternative-medicine.
"Diabetes Support Groups and Education Programs," Defeat Diabetes Foundation, Accessed August 8, 2013, http://www.defeatdiabetes.org/self_management/text.asp?id=Diabetes_Support_Gro.
Karmeen D. Kulkarni, "Food, Culture, and Diabetes in the United States," Clinical Diabetes vol. 22 no. 4 (2004): 190-192. Accessed August 8, 2013, doi: 10.2337/diaclin.22.4.190. http://clinical.diabetesjournals.org/content/22/4/190.full.
"Living with Diabetes- Your Health Care Team," American Diabetes
Association, Accessed August 8, 2013, http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/treatment-and-care/who-is-on-your-healthcare-team/your-health-care-team.html.
Taz Karim. "Week 3: Lecture 1." Michigan State University ANP 204- Introduction to Medical Anthropology. Accessed August 8, 2013, http://anthropology.msu.edu/anp204-us13/schedule/week-3-lecture-1/.
Taz Karim. "Week 3: Lecture 2." Michigan State University ANP 204- Introduction
to Medical Anthropology. Accessed August 8, 2013, http://anthropology.msu.edu/anp204-us13/schedule/week-3-lecture-2/.