Ethnomedical Approach
The ethnomedical approach to medical anthropology looks at the relationship between disease and culture. This aspect takes into account non-traditional healing practices and tries to understand how the cultural mentality of a culture reflects on their health. Anthropologists often use an ethnomedical approach when researching a disease that is highly prevalent in a certain area of the world. It is very helpful to look back at the cultural practices of the people affected to see if their understanding (or rather misunderstanding) of a disease has contributed to this. The ethnomedical approach is important when discussing Alzheimer's disease because there are many cultures around the world that interpret the emergance of dementia with old age differently. For example, some cultures interpret dementia as a problem with the affected person's soul. It is important for hospitals to welcome traditional healing practices into their treatment plans in order to respect their interpretation of this disease (3).
According to the Merriam Webster dictionary 2014, the word culture is defined as the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively (2). In a medical sense, it is how a group of humans understand and interpret illness, disease, and healthcare. As humans, we are all biologically very similar to one another. However, as groups of people developed around the earth in different geographical areas, differences in language and appearance separated us. Each group has formed their own "culture" by learning and teaching all aspects of life in their own way. Each culture interprets disease and medicine differently and this is the part of culture that is most important to medical anthropologists.
According to the Merriam Webster dictionary 2014, the word culture is defined as the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively (2). In a medical sense, it is how a group of humans understand and interpret illness, disease, and healthcare. As humans, we are all biologically very similar to one another. However, as groups of people developed around the earth in different geographical areas, differences in language and appearance separated us. Each group has formed their own "culture" by learning and teaching all aspects of life in their own way. Each culture interprets disease and medicine differently and this is the part of culture that is most important to medical anthropologists.
Alzheimer's disease is interpreted very differently in other cultures and Kleinman's explanatory model of health allows us to more clearly understand this (4). The World Health Organization recognizes that dementia is not a normal part of aging and that Alzheimer's specifically has become an increasing problem for our worldwide healthcare systems. However, in some third world countries, it is key to remember that life expectancy is often lower than in countries where our healthcare systems are highly developed. For example, if an older person in a small village in Uganda reaches the age of 65 or over, and they begin to show symptoms of Alzheimer's, this culture would not recognize the disease. The Hmong people have been found to treat dementia with the use of shamans. They perform long ceremonies in order to cure the affected individual. Their understanding of these symptoms is that the soul of this human is angered or lost (1). They do not believe the western medicine definition of the disease. We use mostly professional medical help to treat symptoms of Alzheimer's while many cultures rely specifically on folk healers to heal their people.
The three ways of conceptualizing the body are individual, social, and political. They can all be very useful when diagnosing and treating Alzheimer's (3). Here are some of the questions we can ask ourselves.
- Individual- How does the degradation of our body due to Alzheimer's affect our mind? How can failure of our mind cause the progression of Alzheimer's?
- Social- How does the materialization of Alzheimer's disease reflect on our culture and society?
- Politics- How does the political body of our communities affect the prevalence and progression of Alzheimer's in our citizens?
Click the next tab above to learn how the experiential approach to medical anthropology helps us further understand Alzheimer's disease.
(1) PBS. "The Split Horn." PBS. http://www.pbs.org/splithorn/shamanism1.html (accessed August 15, 2014).(2) Merriam-Webster. "cultural." Merriam-Webster. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cultural (accessed August 15, 2014).
(3) Karim, Taz. “Lecture 3.1 Ethnomedical Systems”. Video, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI. August 3, 2014
(4) Scheper-Hughes, Nancy, and Margaret M. Lock. "The Mindful Body: A Prolegomenon To Future Work In Medical Anthropology." Medical Anthropology Quarterly 1, no. 1 (2013): 6-41. Accessed August 14, 2014. http://anthropology.msu.edu/anp204-us14/files/2012/06/The-Mindful-Body.pdf.