The cultural clashes amongst the people of the Hmong and Westered based society of
America about health care is a clash of ideologies and ethnocentrism. A refusal to find middle ground and a general misunderstanding of each other’s cultures. Each of these culture’s healing arts, be that biomedicine of America or the traditional healings of the Hmong, are working remedies that tackle the problems faced by healers and doctors with a unique understanding of one’s culture. Through the Hmong it is a spiritual and a truly holistic understanding of the body, while the American biomedicine divides things into parts, like a car. These two systems while approaching the same field with different understandings, can have similar results. That …show more content…
It is a system that embodies balance and holism. To the Hmong the body isn’t machine of many parts working together, it’s a being that interacts with its souls and the spiritual world. The soul is responsible for nearly all illnesses and diseases. If it is separated, scared, lost or confused the soul or souls would cause an imbalance within the body and therefore cause the sickness. The Hmong are very careful of their soul as they believe in reincarnation, if the souls was in some way hurt or distraught it could hamper their reincarnation. Things such as dabs (evil spirts) can harm one of the twelve souls needed, “to be intact in order for a person to be in good health (Lee and Pfeifer, 2009/10).” Other reasons for illness could be spiritual imbalance from: fear, sadness or loneliness (Australian Centre for
International and Tropical Health at the University of Queensland, 2003). That’s not to say that the Hmong doesn’t consider certain injuries to the body as separate, like cuts or other external injuries and infectious diseases. Diseases like TB and Chickenpox are known to the Hmong, along with heredity, weather, stress and reckless behavior (Australian Centre for International and Tropical Health at …show more content…
To biomedicine, mental degradation is nothing more of an absences or excess of these chemicals. Western medicine, until recently, only cared about repairing the body while the feelings or beliefs took the back seat.
The healthcare of the Hmong reflects many aspects of their society, as it is very much interlaced throughout their system. Spiritual leaders decide planting and harvesting times. One of the Hmong’s herbal medicine is opium, used as their main cash crop. It pays for their taxes, trading and silver from Laos. Regarded only for the very old’s health, the Hmong have a very strict policy with addicts of younger ages. Including massive shunning to relative family members related towards the addicted. The crops of the Hmong are very self-sufficient towards their health system given their egalitarian society. Excess herbs (including opium) needed for healing can also be trade or sold for other products from the lowlands. With the left-over seeds new crops can be planted or resources they need for certain healings like the coining method, requires silver, which can be bought with the money made from opium crops. Shamans are
America about health care is a clash of ideologies and ethnocentrism. A refusal to find middle ground and a general misunderstanding of each other’s cultures. Each of these culture’s healing arts, be that biomedicine of America or the traditional healings of the Hmong, are working remedies that tackle the problems faced by healers and doctors with a unique understanding of one’s culture. Through the Hmong it is a spiritual and a truly holistic understanding of the body, while the American biomedicine divides things into parts, like a car. These two systems while approaching the same field with different understandings, can have similar results. That …show more content…
It is a system that embodies balance and holism. To the Hmong the body isn’t machine of many parts working together, it’s a being that interacts with its souls and the spiritual world. The soul is responsible for nearly all illnesses and diseases. If it is separated, scared, lost or confused the soul or souls would cause an imbalance within the body and therefore cause the sickness. The Hmong are very careful of their soul as they believe in reincarnation, if the souls was in some way hurt or distraught it could hamper their reincarnation. Things such as dabs (evil spirts) can harm one of the twelve souls needed, “to be intact in order for a person to be in good health (Lee and Pfeifer, 2009/10).” Other reasons for illness could be spiritual imbalance from: fear, sadness or loneliness (Australian Centre for
International and Tropical Health at the University of Queensland, 2003). That’s not to say that the Hmong doesn’t consider certain injuries to the body as separate, like cuts or other external injuries and infectious diseases. Diseases like TB and Chickenpox are known to the Hmong, along with heredity, weather, stress and reckless behavior (Australian Centre for International and Tropical Health at …show more content…
To biomedicine, mental degradation is nothing more of an absences or excess of these chemicals. Western medicine, until recently, only cared about repairing the body while the feelings or beliefs took the back seat.
The healthcare of the Hmong reflects many aspects of their society, as it is very much interlaced throughout their system. Spiritual leaders decide planting and harvesting times. One of the Hmong’s herbal medicine is opium, used as their main cash crop. It pays for their taxes, trading and silver from Laos. Regarded only for the very old’s health, the Hmong have a very strict policy with addicts of younger ages. Including massive shunning to relative family members related towards the addicted. The crops of the Hmong are very self-sufficient towards their health system given their egalitarian society. Excess herbs (including opium) needed for healing can also be trade or sold for other products from the lowlands. With the left-over seeds new crops can be planted or resources they need for certain healings like the coining method, requires silver, which can be bought with the money made from opium crops. Shamans are