Popular Medicine and Self-Care in a Mexican Migrant Community: Toward an Explanation of an Epidemiological Paradox

Abstract

While Hispanics are among the most economically disadvantaged groups in the United States, immigrants from Latin America have health profiles equal to or better than Americans of European descent. Research on this epidemiological paradox suggests that aspects of Hispanic culture prevent negative health outcomes associated with poverty, poor education, and barriers to professional care. However, little attention has been given to the ethnomedical beliefs and practices of any Hispanic subgroup. Here I present an ethnographic study of women's popular medicine in a Mexican migrant community in Athens, Georgia. Migrant women promote healthy behaviors, diagnose sick family members, and prescribe home remedies. These practices stem from long traditions of self-medication and family care, which have experienced less disruption by the biomedical profession than have other North American popular medical systems. Examining Mexican popular medicine within the context of scientific literature suggests that these self-care practices protect health and should be considered by investigators of the “Hispanic health paradox.” The study also suggests that directing more attention to self-care will be fruitful for medical anthropology.

Key Words:

• Hispanic health paradox
• Mexican migrants
• popular medicine
• self-care

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many thanks go to the migrant women who participated in this research and to the members of their families who also taught me about life in Los Duplex. Special thanks go to Roy Ellen, Cameron Adams, and the anonymous reviewers who read and critiqued earlier drafts of this paper. This research was funded by a Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant from the National Science Foundation (BCS-0090216) under the guidance of Elois Ann Berlin.

Notes

Although my research participants describe themselves as Mexicanas, they use the term Hispanos to refer to immigrants from other Latin American countries. Thus, while some social scientists prefer to use the term Latino/a to refer to people of Spanish-speaking origin from Latin America, I use Hispanic in this paper.

United States Census Bureau http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFFacts?_event=&ActiveGeoDiv=geoSelect&pctxt=fph&_lang=en&_sse=on&geo_id=16000US1303440&_state=04000US13, accessed May 20, 2007.

Gunfire is commonly heard late at night in Los Duplex on Fridays and Saturdays. While it is usually just drunks making noise with their firearms, stray bullets are dangerous, especially in a neighborhood where many children play outside. One month after my study ended, there was a fatal shooting that killed two men in front of the community center on a Saturday afternoon.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Anna Waldstein

ANNA WALDSTEIN is a lecturer in medical anthropology and ethnobotany at the University of Kent. Her current research interests include migration and health, biocultural constructions of addiction, and self-medication with licit and illicit substances.