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- Convenors:
-
Saša Missoni
(Institute for Anthropological Research)
Pavao Rudan (Antropological Center of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts)
- Chair:
-
Linda Whiteford
(University of South Florida)
- Location:
- 301 B
- Start time:
- 18 May, 2014 at
Time zone: Asia/Tokyo
- Session slots:
- 3
Short Abstract:
Panel invites anthropologists from various specializations—such as sociocultural anthropology and biological anthropology—to consider how medical anthropology will continue to develop into the future.
Long Abstract:
As a sub-discipline of anthropology, medical anthropology has been developing at an impressive tempo over the past five decades. This is evidenced by the number of scientists worldwide who identify themselves as medical anthropologists, by the growth of universities that offer a specialization in medical anthropology, by the number of journals in which medical anthropology research is published, by the visibility of medical anthropologists working on critical health issues, and by any number of other indicators. This panel invites anthropologists from various specializations—such as sociocultural anthropology and biological anthropology—to consider how medical anthropology will continue to develop into the future. What are some worthy aspirations for the sub-discipline? How can medical anthropology further advance with positive impacts on human society? What kinds of collaborations within medical anthropology and between medical anthropology other disciplines will lead to a better understanding of the human condition and to improvements in health?
Accepted papers:
Session 1Paper short abstract:
Elaboration of ideas about the topics of medical anthropology and epidemiology. Through biomedical and sociocultural approach we try to find connections of biosocial construction with elaborated concepts of population structure analyses and possible applications in the domain of genetic epidemiology.
Paper long abstract:
Anthropology with subject of its concern comprises many fields that within a classical division of discipline are not represented enough. This specially pertains to the problem of accepting a rigid definition of the discipline, as well as medical anthropology as one of it's narrower fields. In the span of the last decades the subject of medical anthropological scientific domain was expanded on: new areas - from always frequent historical analysis of different cultural patterns in local communities believes in different parts of the world and consecutive cultural construction of that we call contemporary biomedicine to the genetic epidemiology and its connection with current ideas of applied anthropological investigations. Medical anthropology offers today much more than was provided for in the moment of creating its differentia specifica. At that time it was primarily based on observing and to the standard methodological ethnographical patterns of fieldwork as opposed to those that accept the almost immeasurable growth of specialised research techniques, especially in growing area of molecular genetics and human population biology, resulting in a following elaboration and appliance of different ideas and new research methods, approaching genetic epidemiology as well. In the panel our intention is to draw attention to the relation between anthropology on one side and epidemiology on the other - emphasizing that it was Derek Roberts who clearly presented almost thirty years ago fundamental problems of genetic epidemiology - which intertwine in anthropology - trying to enhance the wholeness of knowledge through approaches that are while different, also very close.
Paper short abstract:
Analyzing dietary habits is often reduced to consideration of daily intakes or food frequency. Holistic interdisciplinary approach can improve the inclusion of other nutrition-related variables, such as health locus of control and beliefs about education on nutrition, using multivariate methodology.
Paper long abstract:
Applying multivariate statistical methods can reduce the number of variables in the research of dietary habits, often considered as daily nutrients intakes or included in food frequency questionnaires. On the other hand, reducing the number of manifest variables with latent ones could enable the use of other nutrition-related variables in holistic interdisciplinary anthropological approach. Variety of manifest variables could be comprised in latent variables, such as health locus of control and beliefs about education on nutrition. In this study, conducted on two samples of Croatian adolescents who live in two different regions, we are showing the example using Principal Components Analysis (PCA), where few sets of manifest variables are analyzed: multidimensional health locus of control, dietary habits, healthcare style and beliefs about education on nutrition. Cross-sectional study included a total of 165 female high school students (110 from island Hvar and 55 from Beli Manastir), as well as 47 male students (37 from Hvar and 10 from Beli Manastir) ages 15 to 18. For all sets of variables, by using exploratory strategy of PCA, the authors have constructed specially designed questionnaires (i.e. measuring instruments), with satisfactory reliability and construct validity, which were adjusted to the research samples. Except revealing the insight in structure of certain sets of manifest variables, which represent characteristic dietary-related patterns, regression factor scores could enable further statistical analyses among two samples of participants.
Paper short abstract:
This presentation queries two issues. First, whether medical anthropology should be the discipline of the study of medicine or the study for medicine, and second, how to bridge the gap between medical and anthropological knowledge in terms of theories and methods.
Paper long abstract:
You don't have a medical license, so what is your research useful for? Can you show your results in numbers? How can you solve the problems that we face? These are comments that I have received from Japanese medical professionals after I started fieldwork at cardiovascular disease clinical consultations.
Cardiovascular disease is an area where the technology of quantifying and visualizing of diseases is highly advanced and the quantifiable validity is highly appreciated. However, at clinical sites, clinicians experience problems such as medication non-adherence that only scientific eyes are unable to resolve and, thus, I was accepted as a researcher. Even so, my anthropological study is often antithetical to the studies of natural science in terms of methods and theories. This has caused me a dilemma of how to answer the demands of collaborators and readers in the clinical arena without losing the essence of anthropology—such as showing the results in numbers and tables and avoiding using words that readers conceive as depictive rather than objective. Gradually, this struggle has lead me to philosophical and methodological questions of whether medical anthropology should be the discipline of the study of medicine or the study for medicine, and how is medical anthropology able to avoid exploiting useful information from medical sites only for the sake of the discipline.
This presentation aims to show how medical anthropology should develop in the future based on my ongoing struggle as an anthropologist among medical professionals in Japan.
Paper short abstract:
Health insurance only partly explains significant ethnic differences in health problems and their causes, and in respondents' use of modern vs. traditional health services as reported by 1327 Chinese, Hmong, Lahu and Northern Thai young adults in a rural area with heavy trans-border migration.
Paper long abstract:
To what extent does universal health insurance help reach the goal of "Health for All" by eliminating or significantly reducing health and health service disparities between ethnic groups within similar health service environments? Does traditional medicine "survive" when modern services are readily accessible, and does its survival vary in association with different cultural traditions? To what extent are transitions in health and health services influenced by socio-economic-geographic factors in addition to direct costs of health care (e.g., education, income, religion, transportation) or by socio-cultural factors (e.g., ethnicity-associated beliefs, acculturation and integration with the predominant local society)?
As one step in answering these questions, data on major health problems as perceived by respondents, their perceived causes, and respondents' use of modern and traditional health services were collected from 1327 Chinese, Hmong, Lahu and Northern Thai young adult women and men in an ethnically diverse rural border area with large numbers of trans-border migrants.
Analyses show significant differences between ethnic groups, between men and women of the same ethnic group, and within Chinese and Lahu groups, between migrants and citizens in perceived health problems, use of traditional vs. modern health services, and in constraints to use of modern health services. Differences are only partially associated with economic conditions and eligibility for health insurance, and are reduced, only in part, by acculturation (e.g., Thai language ability). These results suggest the need for tailoring health services including health education to different ethnic groups in order to reduce health and health service disparities.
Paper short abstract:
A state hospital in Indonesia should be based on its health function in a social-mental-physical context to the people. But, its resources of health employee are not in accordance with a modern hospital human function. Even, some of them become legal transgressors.
Paper long abstract:
This paper will describe the service (performance) system of a state education hospital. Focusing on a clinic of obstetric-ginecology department (OGD) this paper will analyse its practice work relationship with a clinic of internal disease department (IDD), central of surgery department (CSD), and blood test department (BTD). Based on an interview and a direct participant observation, its data are also related to the response of patients and ex-patients toward clinic services such as: OGD, IDD, CSD, orthopedic/osteo department (OD); emergency care unit, BTD, also physicians work attitude toward insurance patients, and the condition of part of insurance service. Particularly, this paper's data are related to the performance of the nurse/officer (to the patient service); physician (in OGD, and OD) that was not in accordance with a modern hospital human function, which were assumed related to legal transgression done by a certain employees, because of their money cultural focus. In addition, as a state public health service, this hospital is not based on an international health regulation for supporting people's interests on social-mental-physical health.
Paper short abstract:
Anthropo-therapy is a system of multiple medicines practiced in India and other countries which involves elements of folk, ethnic, complementary and alternative and western medicines in view of providing total healing to the patient.
Paper long abstract:
Today medical plurality is a common feature in Indian communities. Although it has been emerged due to mobility of the knowledge of medicines, but it has been rapidly catalysed due to the impact of scientific advancement and information technology.
Since Western medicine, in spite of having scientific breakthroughs and cutting edge technologies, observes the human body from a mechanistic approach which resulted in medical malfunctions, consequently a realization emerged that our body is not a machine and it is inclined to respond and healed in a way which connect body with brain, mind and soul, outside of partial scientific understanding. This sprouted Anthopo-therapy, an integrative system by employing multiple medicines. It unifies the elements of ethnic, complementary and alternative, and western medicines for healing a person holistically. Such therapy might be viewed in India where folk, ethnic and traditional medical systems cure peoples with the help of western health care facilities. Nearly 80 percent peoples in India accept this form of medicines due to failure of a particular medicinal system. This system may also be noticed in some hospitals of other Asian countries and US too where ethnic and traditional medicines are incorporated with western pharmaceuticals to heal patients.
In conclusion it may be inferred that Anthropo-therapy holds the key today which delivers a truly valuable medical system because no one system of medicine alone provide formula to effectively care for the human species.
Paper short abstract:
The study aims to assess overweight and obesity in preadolescent children, in small towns in the provinces of Apulia Region (IT), in order to compare the results with those of the provincial capital city, according to a longitudinal study carried out in Italy and supported by the Ministry of Health.
Paper long abstract:
The emergence of obesity in preadolescent children, aged 8-9 years, has increasingly become a real epidemic, reaching very high percentages in southern Europe and, in particular, in the south of Italy. The present study aims to assess overweight and obesity in the Apulia Region in which, according to a longitudinal study carried out in Italy and supported by the Ministry of Health (Okkio alla Salute 2008-2012), the values are steadily growing. In this paper we focus our attention on the distribution of overweight and obesity in small towns in the provinces of Apulia, in order to compare them with the obesity in the provincial capital city. The sample of small towns was obtained by drawing lots among the various municipalities in each province with under 50,000 inhabitants.
The comparison between our data and those of Okkio alla Salute (which is based on a sampling by province, including both small and large urban centers), shows that our data are practically the same only in the case of the province of Lecce (39.4% vs. 39% of Okkio), while particularly distant values are attributable to Brindisi (47.3% vs 39%). The other provinces show differences of about 4
percentage points: Bari (37% vs. 41%), Foggia 44.4% vs. 48%) and Taranto (46% vs. 42%). In this paper we try to interpret the different distribution of overweight and obesity in relation to lifestyle and also new pollution emergencies.
Paper short abstract:
Ancient religious and philosophical discourses which eliminate emotional aspect of humanity were inherited by the western philosophy of Descartes, Kant and Hegel. Our alternative study on humanity which values sensuous and emotional aspects will lead to the clue for solving the mental health issue.
Paper long abstract:
The ethical structure of the Albanian customary code, the Kanun, represents the ethical value system of a society without state power, being supposed to be the first ethical value system that humans have ever had. In spite of the appearance of civilizations and the resultant advent of an incipient state power, humans had known only this ethical value system until the fifth century B.C. when Gotama appeared on the Indian continent. In the fifth and fourth centuries B.C., Socrates and Plato forged the philosophy of dialectic in the form of the Idea of Good. In the fourth century B.C., Aristotle conversed about the political institution of the polis, following Plato's discourse. In the first century A.D., Jesus in Galilee preached "Love your enemies." The basic trait of these religious and philosophical discourses which try to eliminate the emotional aspect of humanity, have been inherited by western philosophy of Descartes, Kant and Hegel, in which it has been the general rule that only reason and the rational elements of humanity are valued. Here, a question may be raised regarding the mental health of humans, who are apparently admonished to incessantly lessen the emotional aspect of humanity while honing the rational aspect in their everyday way of thinking and behavior. The sensuous and emotional aspects constitute a pretty good portion of humanity. The alternative study on emotion and humanity in terms of ethics and philosophy might enable us to find the breakthrough for the impasse of mental health issue in post-modern society.
Paper short abstract:
The country of Indonesia has more of some basic floras for medicinal herbs. But, Indonesia is far remained to use the above basic flora to be integrated in modern medicine.
Paper long abstract:
This paper will discuss the abundant condition of medicinal plants, as the basic of medicinal herbs or "Jamu". The knowledge potency of "jamu" in Indonesia is just started, of which its health ministry until 2013 has trained of five periods of 200 of doctors about research related to what kind of "jamu" can and have been used to cure sufferer patients in a certain disease. The delay of using "jamu" as a traditional remedy in modern medicine, are faced by its obstacle as follows: the variety of basic knowledge of four hundreds and fourty ethnic groups in Indonesia is only 15 % which have been used in scientific way. Also Indonesia is faced by mindsets condition of some medical doctors that do not have their capability to use jamu and do not have yet their will to integrate "jamu" in modern medicine.