![Picture](/uploads/3/9/8/7/39875645/645586013.png?373)
Critical Medical Anthropology
The field of critical medical anthropology takes into consideration the economy and political factors. It is common to hear that critical medical anthropologists deal with socioeconomics. They focus on wealth and power and how those factors determine what kind of care they receive or if they have any at all. "Influenced by Marxist theory and dependency theory, this approach analyses the impact of global economic systems, particularly capitalism, on local and national health." (McElroy 2002) approach uses the deeper roots and often times takes longer because of it. As applied medical anthropology is, critical too is a way to solve problems. "Critical chnical medical anthropology is an adjunct of political economy. This approach analyses biomedical practice and the differentials in power and authoritative knowledge of practitioner and patient." (McElroy 2002)
In relation to Lia Lee I believe that critical medical anthropology was not used in her treatment. Doctors would need to get to the roots and understand what the Lee's were doing in order to successfully deal with Lia's condition. If the doctors had asked Lia's parents if they could preform the tests and administer the drugs that they did, that would have been one way they used critical medical anthology. Another way they could have used it would be through conjoint therapy. This way would be the easiest and it is what we use know when we come across a patient that follows another culture. The hospital where Lia was being treated had a lot of Hmong patients and yet they did not add on translators or think of using this conjoint therapy. It could have made Lia's case along with a lot of others better in the long run. Conjoint therapy has benefits, some of "the advantages come from the use of multiple settings, transferences, observers, interpreters, and maturational agents." (National Institute of Health Website)
The field of critical medical anthropology takes into consideration the economy and political factors. It is common to hear that critical medical anthropologists deal with socioeconomics. They focus on wealth and power and how those factors determine what kind of care they receive or if they have any at all. "Influenced by Marxist theory and dependency theory, this approach analyses the impact of global economic systems, particularly capitalism, on local and national health." (McElroy 2002) approach uses the deeper roots and often times takes longer because of it. As applied medical anthropology is, critical too is a way to solve problems. "Critical chnical medical anthropology is an adjunct of political economy. This approach analyses biomedical practice and the differentials in power and authoritative knowledge of practitioner and patient." (McElroy 2002)
In relation to Lia Lee I believe that critical medical anthropology was not used in her treatment. Doctors would need to get to the roots and understand what the Lee's were doing in order to successfully deal with Lia's condition. If the doctors had asked Lia's parents if they could preform the tests and administer the drugs that they did, that would have been one way they used critical medical anthology. Another way they could have used it would be through conjoint therapy. This way would be the easiest and it is what we use know when we come across a patient that follows another culture. The hospital where Lia was being treated had a lot of Hmong patients and yet they did not add on translators or think of using this conjoint therapy. It could have made Lia's case along with a lot of others better in the long run. Conjoint therapy has benefits, some of "the advantages come from the use of multiple settings, transferences, observers, interpreters, and maturational agents." (National Institute of Health Website)
Left picture (image 3):Word collage to describe anthropology. http://www.yorku.ca/laps/anth/images/Wordlev3.jpg
Right picture (image 4):Anne Fadiman's The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. http://tatyanalyubezhanina.weebly.com/uploads/2/6/7/2/26721797/1394676776.png
Right picture (image 4):Anne Fadiman's The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. http://tatyanalyubezhanina.weebly.com/uploads/2/6/7/2/26721797/1394676776.png