In The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman, a clash of cultures is demonstrated. I really enjoyed the opening chapters of this book, because I learned a lot about the Hmong culture and tradition. It was interesting to see this particular culture functioning in an American society, especially in a medical environment. This situation demonstrated the reality of biases in health care and medicine. What is it right? Who decides what is right? How should doctors treat patients without disrespecting their personal values? These questions are hard to answer. Yet, medical students are being educated about these issues, so when needed they will know how to address these differences. In addition, the difficulties the doctors and the Lee's faced in the Merced hospital should be taken into consideration. Translators should be a part of the hospital budget, because not everyone in hospitals speaks English. In America, English is not required, so these non-English speakers should not have to face the burden of miscommunication.
This issue is happening all across America, not only at Merced hospital. Even the media has taken into consideration this issue, but using it as plots in their weekly sitcoms. The Grey's Anatomy clip did not show the reality of a Hmong patient's situation, but brought attention to the issue. I think it is important to acknowledge that not all doctors or hospitals disrespect cultural values. A family friend of mine was going into labor and in order to protect her baby, some Indian rituals were performed. My mom said that the doctors and hospital staff were respectful and did not mind the rituals. Thus, even though these problems exist, they don't exist everywhere.
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3 comments:
Interesting story about the Indian rituals. You say that the media is focusing attention on this issue, but do you think it emphasizes it enough? Do you think that if more people were aware of these issues, there would be less of a problem?
I think that if doctors were aware of the problems which their patients had while treating them, for example Lia, the case will be different. Peope in the medicine field should be more enduring with the patients and try to understand their cultural views and even feelings. I am not trying to say that everything will be alright, but with doctor's help and understanding every medical case will be more easily solved.
I completely agree that the problem doesn't exist everywhere. My mother is a director of the labor and delivery department here in Atlanta, and the doctors and nurses have to go through extensive training to make sure that they are aware of the different cultural practices of their clients. They also have translators available and food available to meet the specific dietary needs of their patients.
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