Concepts of health and illness of the Protestant Hmong
Author(s):
Capps, Lisa L.
Format:
Thesis
Degree granted:
Ph.D.
Publisher:
Ann Arbor : University of Kansas, 1991.
Pages:
277
Language:
English
Abstract:
Hmong refugees from highland Laos began arriving in the United States following the end of the Southeast Asian War in 1975. This dissertation concerns concepts of health and illness among the Protestant Hmong who settled in Kansas City. The notion of medical culture (Last 1981) is applied to organize health and illness concepts. Hmong medical culture demonstrates an eclectic set of ideas, some of which are derived from Chinese medicine, Christianity, and biomedicine. A type of syncretism exists in which Protestant religious ideas and practices are placed against the background of the traditional religion. The concept of soul loss no longer assumes a major role in the idea systems of the Protestant Hmong and shamanism has been discarded. Christian practices, including prayer, are deemed helpful in the treatment of illness along with traditional herbal and massage therapies. Interviews with individuals and families, life histories, and illness case studies provide the bulk of the data presented. The history of war, migration, and Christianization are included to provide a basis for understanding the impact of these events on health. With resettlement in the United States, the Hmong have experienced radical cultural change. Biomedically labeled illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, and stroke have occurred within their population. Although they utilize biomedicine for the treatment of illness, they lack familiarity with biomedical concepts of illness. Consequently, the Hmong apply their own ideas of health and illness, including specific illness types, to biomedically labeled illness. The identification and treatment of Hmong illnesses, such as fright illness, reaffirms ethnicity through the reassurance of the effectiveness of traditional modes of healing. Hmong healing methods provide a creative and vital means of health care for their community.