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"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.
Two systems of health care exist side by side in Samoa--Samoan medicine and Western medicine. Western medicine is centered in three hospitals--Moto'otua Hospital near Apia, Tuasivi Hospital on Savai'i, and the Lyndon B. Johnson Tropical Medical Center in American Samoa. There are also a series of rural clinics, especially on Savai'i, that are staffed by district nurses. The doctors (foma'i) at the Western Samoan hospitals have either a Diploma of Medicine from the Fiji School of Medicine or an M.D. from New Zealand or elsewhere, and there are usually a few Pālagi (Western) M.D.s and interns from overseas who work along with them. The doctors in American Samoa are M.D.s from the U.S. or elsewhere, and serve on contract for two or more years. In most of the world, Western medicine has demonstrated its superiority over indigenous medical practices, but this is not the case in Samoa, at least not for all ailments. The first line of defense for many Samoans, particularly for infants, is Samoan medicine. This is not due to isolation, because most districts have a clinic, and the majority of the population is less than an hour's bus or car ride from one of the three hospitals noted above. However, a clinic staffed by a nurse is not the same as a hospital staffed by doctors and medical equipment. Savai'i is particularly weak in this area, since the one hospital is now (1994) being rebuilt, and often there are no more than two doctors for the entire island. The two systems are in direct competition, but there is very little conflict or tension. The doctors may think of the fofō--the traditional healers--as "witch doctors," and the fofō may confidently believe that the Western doctors just do not have the power to heal Samoan ailments, but there is little friction. Fofō recognize a dichotomy in ailments, with some classified as Samoan illnesses (ma'i Sāmoa) and others as Western illnesses (ma'i Pālagi). They usually treat only the former type, which they consider indigenous; if the fofō determine that the illness of a prospective patient belongs to the latter type, which is considered to be introduced by Westerners, and they do not have a medicine to treat it, the patient will be directed to a hospital or clinic. Likewise, some Western doctors may send patients to fofō if they believe that the ailment is not readily treatable with Western medicines or is psychological and is best treated by traditional Samoan means. However, referral from doctor to fofō is less common than the reverse. Instead of open friction, there is mutual tolerance and even some cooperation between the two systems. In its village public health programs, the Western Samoan Health Department has sought out village women (women's committee members), some of them being established fofō. The health department representatives--the district nurses living and working in the village--may even believe in Samoan medicine; even if they do not, they may refrain from condemning the practice in order to maintain harmony with their patients and village. The Health Department has even officially recognized some of the fofō, and supplies them with items such as gauze for use in the preparation of Samoan medicine.
Examining a variety of intriguing issues, this sociological study analyzes the impact global culture has had on the flora and fauna, people, economies, languages, and cultures of the Pacific for many centuries. The survey draws on findings from a 40-year research partnership, illustrating the effects of globalization from the perspective of a typical Samoan village and documenting the country's shift from baskets to buckets, from religious authority to a questioning democracy, and from in-kind work to a cash economy. Delving into questions such as When do Pacific emigrants stop sending money to their home village? Do villagers stop giving away fish when they get a refrigerator? and How do cell phones change villages? this argument contends that contemporary changes are presenting a more profound challenge to Samoan social institutions and society than at any other time in the past. Comprehensive and accessible, this guide is essential for those interested in the way global forces are shaping change in small Pacific nations.
This title is available as an ebook only. The body is a central reality of culture and a fundamental site at which culture is expressed in action and in thought. Yet anthropological analyses continue to regard the body as a cultural artifact--something static, objectifiable, and removed from the everyday experiences of living in society. These are central ideas in the new book by Douglass Drozdow-St. Christian, Elusive Fragments: Making Power, Propriety, and Health in Samoa. In this book, the author argues for another way of thinking about the body and bodies. Based on ongoing field research in Samoa, the author describes everyday processes of village and family life as the primary sites through which the body works as an agent of cultural production. By locating the body as a process of awareness and enactment, he links it with Samoan concerns for dignity, humility, and strength, thereby illuminating central dynamics within Samoan culture. This book is part of the Ethnographic Studies in Medical Anthropology Series, edited by Pamela J. Stewart and Andrew Strathern, Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh. "There are many useful insights to be gained from this book... Readers with interests in the Pacific and in medical anthropology, as well as anthropologists with an interest in theory and ethnography should find this book a thought-provoking read." -- The Journal of the Polynesian Society, March 2003
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.
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.
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.