For the Sake of our Children: Hispanic Immigrant and Migrant Families’ Use of Folk Healing and Biomedicine
Document Type
Article
Department or Administrative Unit
Anthropology and Museum Studies
Publication Date
10-8-2013
Abstract
This article documents beliefs among Hispanic immigrant and migrant families in central Washington State about the etiology, symptomology, and appropriate treatments for illnesses experienced by their young children. Similar information was gathered from health care staff at several area biomedical facilities. We integrate data from the childhood health project and the authors’ previous research to refine the ethnomedical knowledge base and assumptions about the impact of migration histories and acculturative forces on Hispanic health belief systems and therapeutic decision-making. The analysis is situated in the region's political economic context, dominated by agribusiness, which reveals the enmeshed structural forces that influence the children's health care. We conclude that only when cultural and structural factors are considered in concert can these approaches most effectively contribute to understanding family responses to childhood illness at local community levels as well as at broader analytic scales, and to the development of culturally relevant and effective health care.
Recommended Citation
Andrews, T. J., Ybarra, V., & Matthews, L. L. (2013). For the Sake of our Children: Hispanic Immigrant and Migrant Families’ Use of Folk Healing and Biomedicine. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 27(3), 385–413. https://doi.org/10.1111/maq.12048
Journal
Medical Anthropology Quarterly
Rights
© 2013 by the American Anthropological Association. All rights reserved.
Comments
This article was originally published in Medical Anthropology Quarterly. The full-text article from the publisher can be found here.
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