Eric Lovett Jr.- Klemm Fund Projects Abroad Internship Program In Anne Fadiman’s, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, a young Hmong girl named Lia, endures an egregious form of epilepsy characterized by several general mal seizures each day. Lia and her family, are Hmong refugees from Laos that sought asylum by living in a highly concentrated Hmong community in California. The Hmong’s beliefs and cultures can be compared to typical Western culture, including their beliefs in the effectiveness of select medical techniques and not others, as well as having their own treatment methods. Lia was forced to endure the worst symptoms of her condition with little alternative because of a clash between the two culture’s beliefs. Ultimately, Lia …show more content…
Therefore, it is virtually impossible to deliver effective and comprehensive healthcare without clear communication between the patient and practitioners. It is a necessity to understand that there are countless cultures across the globe, and no matter how underrepresented, morally, all are entitled to the right to practice their own beliefs unimpeded as long as they do not threaten or inhibit other’s rights to practice. I have had many experiences that have helped me an immense amount in shaping my choice of a career. Being a member of the New Visions Health and Medical Careers programs at Cayuga Medical Center allowed me to take my education into my own hands by escaping the classroom into the hospital for my senior year of high school. During my full-year medical internship, I shadowed over 30 medical disciplines, in both in-patient and outpatient facilities. Additionally, I clinically shadowed the care of patients from birth to the end of life of many different patients. This gave me a thorough understanding and a dense foundation of healthcare and allowed me to take initiation of my own …show more content…
Referring back to young Lia, who may have been spared of her tragic death had practitioners taken the time to understand her family’s wishes and sought alternative treatment methods that Lia’s family could understand and agree with. However, practitioners chose to diagnose, prescribe medication, and cast Lia away without her family fully understanding her treatment. Slowing down, being flexible and rethinking one’s approach potentially saved the Hispanic woman’s life in the Emergency Room when communication was difficult. I believe on my trip to Tanzania, although I could not possibly gain a complete understanding of their culture and language in such a short time, the opportunity will provide me with tools that I can use during the rest of my academic experience at Union and then combined with my education, someday deliver effective healthcare while presented with similar issues I observed my senior year. Overcoming language barriers and understanding differing beliefs are essential and I can use the tools gained in Tanzania to help guide my approach and guarantee future patients the healthcare they
This book addresses one of the common characteristics, and challenges, of health care today: the need to achieve a working knowledge of as many cultures as possible in health care. The Hmong population of Merced, California addresses the collision between Western medicine and holistic healing traditions of the Hmong immigrants, which plays out a common dilemma in western medical centers: the need to integrate modern western medicinal remedies with aspects of cultural that are good for the well-being of the patient, and the belief of the patient’s ability to recuperate. What we see is a clash, or lack of integration in the example of the story thereof. Lia, a Hmong child with a rare form of epilepsy, must enter the western hospital instead of the Laotian forest. In the forest she would seek out herbs to remedy the problems that beset her, but in the west she is forced to enter the western medical hospital without access to those remedies, which provided not only physical but spiritual comfort to those members of the Hmong culture. The herbs that are supposed to fix her spirit in the forest are not available in the western hospital. The Merced County hospital system clashes with Hmong animist traditions.
Tradition is defined in the dictionary as the handing down from generation to generation of the same customs and beliefs. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, I believe has two main topics addressed: the traditions of the Hmong people, and the dangers of being unable to communicate. The misunderstanding of these two consequential points, I believe caused the majority of conflict that arose.
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman is a nonfiction book that brings to light the clash of Hmong culture and Western medicine in Merced, California. Anne Fadiman tells the story of a Hmong immigrant family, the Lees, and the unfortunate condition of epilepsy that their daughter Lia suffers from. Throughout the book the reader sees great conflict inflicted on medical practitioners due to the Lee’s own cultural beliefs and the frustration suffered by the family due to miscommunication. Anne develops the story by giving a detailed background of the Hmong peoples’ lifestyle in their indigenous land of Lao, how it contributes to their beliefs, and their struggle to understand and accept Western practices.
In America the clashing of cultures is inevitable due to the different backgrounds that make up the country --- especially when it comes to treating patients medicinally or through more traditional ways. The conflict occurs in The Spirit Catches you and You Fall Down By Anne Fadiman, when the culture of western medicine collides with Hmong practices. A daughter of a Hmong family, Lia, suffers from epilepsy and is brought to the Merced Community Medical Center (MCMC) to seek treatments that will alleviate the symptoms of her seizures. While the doctors and parents try to find ways to help Lia, they encounter cultural barriers such as their differences in practicing medicine that inhibit their ability to help her efficiently. The MCMC doctors and the parents are both responsible for the increasing cultural conflicts because of their negative biases towards each other long before they meet.These negative biases were later enforced by their lack of trust and respect as the book progressed.
The book narrates about the conflict between modern medicine and the ancient beliefs amongst Hmong culture.The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is a book written about the life of Lia Lee. Lia is a Hmong child living with epilepsy in America. Her devastating story shows the risks and dangers of cross-cultural communication in the medical field. The book details an account of the fight over the body and soul of this sick girl. The author provides unbiased and balanced view of what happened, by sympathizing with the doctors and the girl’s family. The book delivers a challenge to readers to their view of divinity and medicine.
Everyone is unique, each person contributes each one of their own ideas into society. People go through experiences that make them decide what career they want to pursue. I went through a life changing experience that changed where I was heading in my life. Additionally, this first semester of college has increased my awareness of health issues and how bridging cultures is way to minimize mistakes in the health care field. In The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down includes mistakes that could have been prevented. The past experiences that I have been through, my values, and my heritage can improve the practice of health care delivery in America.
In the US., the therapeutic group seldom has approaches to correspond with individuals of societies so drastically unique in relation to standard American society; even a great interpreter will think that it troublesome deciphering ideas between the two separate societies' reality ideas. American specialists, not at all like Hmong shamans, regularly physically touch and cut into the collections of their patients and utilize an assortment of capable medications and meds.
She heard about the Hmong through a friend, and so she spent 4 years living in Merced, California and another 5 writing this book. She attempts to stay fairly neutral in her writing, though through her time with the Lees, she confesses that her writing may appear biased toward the Hmong culture rather than toward the Americans. However, in the end she could not blame one side or the other for the unfortunate tragedy of Lia, who got hit in the cross-fire between these two cultures. Her theoretical view is a type of cultural relativism. Neither the Hmong nor the Americans could emerge as the better culture. She does not address any questions about direct unethical practices. The Hmong did not practice human sacrifices, and the animals they did sacrifice were theirs. She does seem to believe that every culture has its weak and strong
One notable example of an ethical dilemma presented within this report is the battle of belief referring to a situation where some patients tend to reject specific medical procedures attributed to the religious, cultural, or personal beliefs. Every patient has the right to decision based on his or her beliefs thereby meaning that patients may reject specific medical procedures based on what they believe (Guido, 2014). However, this conflicts with the position of the nurses who are mandated with providing their patients with the best quality of medical services as part of promoting positive health outcomes. The best remedy for this specific ethical dilemma would involve having to hold a discussion between the nurse and the patient where the nurse would accord the patient his or her clinical
What would it be like to come to a country and not understand anything about its health care system? To many this would be a very daunting task. Unfortunately, this is the scenario that the Lee family has to deal with in the book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman. The Lee family, and the other thousands of Hmong immigrants, try to understand and navigate the complex and sometimes confusing health care system of the United States. As the book points out, the values and ideals of the Hmong culture and the United States health care system are not always the same and sometimes come into great conflict with each other. Lia Lee was unfortunately the person stuck in the middle of this great conflict.
In The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures, author Anne Fadiman explores the complexity of a cultural clash through communication and interaction between the Hmong minority and biomedical culture in the United States. In broad terms, her book classifies as a modern-day case of cultural anthropology that depicts the complications of unprepared cross-cultural communication and lack of assimilation. Fadiman documented the saga of the Lees, a Hmong family who immigrated to Merced, California after nation-wide problems in their homeland of Laos and China (Fadiman 5). Their story exemplifies the struggle with biomedicine in the United States by detailing the story of the Lee’s severely epileptic daughter Lia and reflecting on the factors and outcomes of her life and death.
...ulture is changing, Hmong are not all the same, importance of family, privacy issues, mental health issues, and small talk is important (Barrett et al., 1998, 181-182) . Overall, Barrett and others concluded that in order to improve interaction between patient and doctor all they have to do is follow these easy steps. First, is to be kind and have a positive attitude towards the patient and interpreter. Second, learn about each other’s cultures prior to meeting, to better understand each other. Third, better explain diagnosis and treatment options to patients. Fourth, improve translation providers need to get better interpreters who could concisely explain the consultation. Fifth, involve the family to make more thorough decisions. Sixth, respect patient’s decisions and there are still other alternatives to improve interaction (Barrett et al., 1998, 182-183).
They will need to have an understanding of their spiritual and religion aspects, practiced by the patients and their family members. With having the understanding of the patient’s beliefs, the patient may consider the treatment from the health care provider. It is very crucial and imperative the health care providers listen to all aspects of the patients’ lives, which will affec...
There are many main ideas and themes in the book “The Spirit Catches You When You Fall” by Anne Fadiman. I and my group discussed three themes and specific main points that we all thought was important to take from the book. Some of the main points that we discuss is Hmong culture/family, language barriers, and epilepsy. I will talk about the main points, a brief reflection on the doctor’s take on this situation and the theme sometimes you can’t control the outcome of situations.
From a young age, I was drawn to the healthcare field, not because the amount of money doctors, nurses and other health professionals made, but because of the dedication and contentment I saw on their faces helping someone in need. Growing up everyone wanted to become a doctor or a nurse and as a little child being a doctor or a nurse was a profession many parents wanted their child to pursue as a career. Needless to say, I fell into that category because I had high hopes that one day I will become a nurse. However, that dream came to a halt.