Influences on biomedicine in rural Dominican Republic: An analysis of process

Abstract

This paper, based on fieldwork among agrarian reform beneficiaries in the Dominican Republic, examines the utilization of health care. Specific attention is given to the consumption of private medical care and its relationship to changes in the system of land tenure, policy in the agrarian reform, and the roles of physicians. A principal concern of the paper is the examination of the adaptive strategies of beneficiaries of the reform in light of political and economic influences. A second concern is the consideration of the integration of critical medical anthropology's perspectives on the political economy with a perspective on decision‐making and adaptive strategies.

Key words:

• treatment options
• biomedicine
• Dominican Republic
• peasants