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Then, if the parents did not listen to the doctors, they assumed more of the responsibility of what happened. How could the doctors expect the medicine to be taken correctly when the parents did not read, did not know mathematical symbols and were given change after change. They were blindsided by their own diagnosis and the arrogance that everyone would follow their treatment exactly. Nor can the doctors be excused for not understanding the Hmong ways. Reading National Geographic (pg. 57) is not the way to learn about a culture! Dr. Murphy's comment that "[p]eople in the early years of their medical careers have invested an incredible amount of time and energy and pain in their training, and they have been taught that what they've learned in medical school is the only legitimate way to approach health problems" surely does not cover their actions, either. The story about Dr. Fife, who is ironically considered "inferior," demonstrates the need to respect people for their beliefs.
In this case, the arrogance of the doctors was inappropriate. If they have 12,000 residents out of 61,000 who are from the Hmong...
However, it is also important for immigrants to learn about the culture of their new country. They cannot assume that Americans are going to understand them or their beliefs. That is being naive. By going into the hospital with their daughter, the Lees were making a statement that they are willing to accept the care of foreign doctor. If they were totally against having an American care of their daughter, they should not have come at all and only relied on the Shaman. In this situation, everyone involved was culpable to varying degrees.
Unfortunately, this is not only a story of this family, but of many individuals and families in the United States who are disenfranchised for various reasons. People who have money and health insurance would not have gone to the emergency department, but to their own private doctor and then to specialists to determine their problem. They also would not tolerate that there was a language barrier. A translator would have been called immediately.
Yet the nightmare continued, because the communication problems were not resolved. During the next four years, her anticonvulsant medicines were changed about 25 times, which would have been hell for any family. The Lees questioned the value of so many prescriptions, especially with their Hmong mindset, and did not follow directions. Of course, this was exacerbated by the fact that they did not understand the dosages. The doctors inaccurately concluded
They cannot ignore the socioeconomic issues of adversity so often present and, where necessary, need to act as advocates, mediators and social brokers (Compton, Galaway, & Curnoyer, 2005). The concern is that the issue of healthcare for culturally diverse individuals is so complex, there are no exact rights and wrongs. For example, in Fadiman's book, no person(s) can be said to be ultimately correct or incorrect in his/her behavior or
If Yossarian will agree to "like" them, they will ground him and send him home. This plan would include promotion to Major. The thought of going home is so powerful for Yossarian that at first he agrees to the plan. The system has finally corrupted Yossarian's morals. Later Minderbinder makes a passing attempt at doing the right thing, trying to find a young girl after Rome is bombed, but
Friend The colleague and friend I selected has worked with me on fundraising projects and has been a neighbor and friend of our family for several years. She is respected in the community for her advocacy for children's education in particular, but also for her support of local nonprofit organizations that raise money and awareness of the homeless, of the local teen center, and of the group that fights to
Social Ordinance: A Means to Foster a Spirit of Community There are usually a set of social features that are provided to man so as to regulate their behavior according to the norms and values that have been set. Some people in a community might fail to conform to these norms. The failure to conform to these norms that have been set within the community is termed as deviant behavior. In
arrival of Hmong to the United States and delves briefly on the earlier conditions of the Hmong in Laos and Southeast Asia, their region of origin. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures, by Anne Friedan is a book about the encounter between a Hmong family and the American medical community. It also goes into great detail