Samoan Medical Belief And Practice

"This is the first comprehensive study of Samoan music. Cluny and La'avasa Macpherson have carried out intensive investigation into the practice and beliefs of contemporary indigenous healers, or fofố, in Western Samoa to produce a fascinating and throughful study. They explain convincingly why traditional Samoan medicine and its skilled practitioners continue to flourish alongside Western medical practice both in Samoa and in Samoan immigrant communities..."--Back cover.

"... For six months in 1980 and for three months in 1981 I lived in Samoan villages and studied healing practices. I observed and interviewed both traditional healers and western trained health professionals in Western Samoa. Now, based on my experiences both in New Zealand and in Western Samoa, I present some of my insights -- gained from observation, interview, group discussions and reflection -- as they relate to the New Zealand scene ... The book should be read as an introduction to cross-cultureal communication and health as well as to Samoan and to other non-western health practices. Enough information is provided so that western health professionals can have a sensible conversation with their Samoan patients, and vice versa. Some health professionals will, I hope, stop to reflect on the existence of cultural differences in talking health and in doing sickness. Where a western health professional reads this book and reflects on the nature of medical practice and the usage/provision of health care and begins to talk about western ways of doing sickness as only one possible way, a breakthrough will have occurred. This would amount to the recognition that what it means to be sick is culturally defined, that medical treatment and health services are cultural practices and culturally specific forms ..." -- Introduction.

Faith and the Pursuit of Health explores how Pentecostal Christians manage chronic illness in ways that sheds light on health disparities and social suffering in Samoa, a place where rates of obesity and related cardiometabolic disorders have reached population-wide levels. Pentecostals grapple with how to maintain the health of their congregants in an environment that fosters cardiometabolic disorders. They find ways to manage these forms of sickness and inequality through their churches and the friendships developed within these institutions. Examining how Pentecostal Christianity provides many Samoans with tools to manage day-to-day issues around health and sickness, Jessica Hardin argues for understanding the synergies between how Christianity and biomedicine practice chronicity.

Salvation and metabolism -- Ethnography between clinic and church -- Discerning ambiguous risks -- Freedom and health responsibility -- Embodied analytics -- Well-being and deferred agency -- Support synergies -- Integrating faith into healthcare practice.

This work deals with the medical knowledge and beliefs of cultures outside of the United States and Europe. In addition to articles surveying Islamic, Chinese, Native American, Aboriginal Australian, Indian, Egyptian, and Tibetan medicine, the book includes essays on comparing Chinese and western medicine and religion and medicine. Each essay is well illustrated and contains an extensive bibliography.

The thoroughly updated Second Edition of Health Promotion in Multicultural Populations grounds readers in the understanding that health promotion programs in multicultural settings require an in-depth knowledge of the cultural group being targeted. Numerous advances and improvements in theory and practice in health promotion and disease prevention (HPDP) are presented. Editors Michael V Kline and Robert M Huff have expanded the book to include increased attention directed to students and instructors while also continuing to provide a handbook for practitioners in the field. This book combines the necessary pedagogical features of a textbook with the scholarship found in a traditional handbook. Several new chapters have been added early in the text to provide stronger foundations for understanding the five sections that follow. The book considers five specific multicultural groups: Hispanic/Latino, African American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian American, and Pacific Islander populations. The first chapter in each of the five population group sections presents an overview devoted to understanding this special population from a variety of perspectives. The second chapter of each section explains how to assess, plan, implement, and evaluate health promotion programs for each of the specific groups. The third chapter in each section highlights a case study to emphasize points made in the overview and planning chapters. The fourth chapter in each section provides "Tips" for working with the cultural groups described in that section. New to the Second Edition Devotes a chapter to traditional health beliefs and traditions that can help the practitioner better understand how these beliefs and traditions can impact on Western biomedical practices Contains a new chapter that evaluates health disparities across the U.S. Presents a new chapter that examines ethical dilemmas and considerations in a multicultural context Offers updated citations and content throughout Gives selected Web sites of interest Intended Audience This book is ideal for practitioners and students in the fields of health promotion and education, public health, nursing, medicine, psychology, sociology, social work, physical therapy, radiology technology and other allied professions.

Medical practitioners and the ordinary citizen are becoming more aware that we need to understand cultural variation in medical belief and practice. The more we know how health and disease are managed in different cultures, the more we can recognize what is "culture bound" in our own medical belief and practice. The Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology is unique because it is the first reference work to describe the cultural practices relevant to health in the world's cultures and to provide an overview of important topics in medical anthropology. No other single reference work comes close to marching the depth and breadth of information on the varying cultural background of health and illness around the world. More than 100 experts - anthropologists and other social scientists - have contributed their firsthand experience of medical cultures from around the world.