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The Use of Home Remedies for Health Care and Well-Being by Spanish-Speaking Latino Immigrants in London: A Reflection on Acculturation

Publication Type  Book Chapter
Authors  Melissa Ceuterick; Ina Vandebroek; Bren Torry; Andrea Pieroni
Year of Publication  2007
Editor  Andrea Pieroni; Ina Vandebroek
Book Title  Traveling Cultures and Plants: The Ethnobiology and Ethnopharmacy of Migrations
City  Oxford
Publisher  Berghahn Books
Pages  145-165
Language  English
Key Words  acculturation; demedicalization; disease; home remedies; Latino immigrants; London; medical anthropology
Notes   Anthropological studies among Latinos in London are rare, and the research discussed in this chapter sheds light on the plant-based health care practices of this particular group of urban immigrants. During nine months of fieldwork from September 2005 to May 2006, the researchers interviewed a sample population in order to explore the ways that their plant use has changed while living in the London metropolitan area as compared to how it was in their country of origin. Though the immigrants come from various Spanish-speaking countries, a self-representational pan-Latino identity unites them as one general, yet not officially recognized, ethnic group in the British context. The chapter includes an ethnographic background accounting for this. Qualitative research methods were used to gather data from thirty-five informants, mostly from Andean countries. Along with participant observation, interviewing was the main research method and included open-ended interviews, semi-structured interviewsi, casual conversations and group interviews. The study zone's principal Latino herbal shop was visited repeatedly and a complete inventory of its herbs was recorded and samples of each herb were taken. The researchers identified the samples using a collection of books and reference literature. Significant emic distinctions between the terms disease, illness and discomfort, and the categories of remedies informants sought for each, were discovered. Medical anthropology theories on demedicalization of certain disorders are discussed to explain corresponding health care strategies. Some of these cultural distinctions make the UK's National Health Service (NHS) incompatible with Latino needs. Also, many of these immigrants are undocumented and unable to benefit from the NHS. Citing theoretical health care models, the authors propose that Latinos in London have the choice to seek treatment in three different arenas: the professional biomedical sector, the folk/specialist sector and the popular/lay sector. This research highlights the popular sector, which is mainly characterized by self-treatment. The authors divide the plant-based home remedies that their informants mentioned into four categories: (1) medicinal herbs; (2) food-medicine continuum; (3) ritual; and (4) cosmetic. In comparison to the plants that informants said they used in their home country, the quantity and diversity of home remedies they used in the UK is far less – in total, 196 remedies in the former and 66 in the latter. Most of the latter come from globalized, non-Latin American species. The authors discuss processes of acculturation and note that assimilation to highly culturally heterogeneous urban environments is a contradiction in terms. Here, acculturation in relationship to home remedy use is seen to be guided by practical choices and limitations, rather than negotiations of ethnic identity. Constraints pertaining to linguistics, busy schedules, work and age affect plant remedy use, but the main factor limiting diversity of plant remedy use was found to be the UK's harsh importation laws that prohibit immigrants from accessing many of their traditional herbs. Prepared by Megan Glore

The Changing Scene of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Strategies due to Migration of Indians form the Asian subcontinent to the United States

Publication Type  Book Chapter
Authors  Usha R. Palaniswamy
Year of Publication  2007
Editor  Andrea Pieroni; Ina Vandebroek
Book Title  Traveling Cultures and Plants: The Ethnobiology and Ethnopharmacy of Migrations
City  Oxford
Publisher  Berghahn Books
Pages  148-178
Chapter  4
Language  English
Key Words  acculturation; Asian Indians; diabetes; disease prevention; migrants; traditional diet; United States
Notes  

In response to the rapidly increasing amount of Asian Indian immigrants (people born in or originating from India) to the US and their high predisposition to diabetes, Palaniswamy's study presents a case for tailoring diabetes prevention programs more specifically to this ethnic group. Drawing from other studies that show decreasing levels of health after Asian Indians migrate to the UK or Canada, she investigated the dietary changes that these immigrants in the US undergo, and explored their awareness about diabetes and the factors influencing their risk of developing the disease.

Data was obtained through a questionnaire that was issued to 144 female residents of Connecticut under 45 years of age. There was an equal number of participants from each of the following categories of US residency: (1) less than 5 years, (2) 5 – 10 years, (3) more than 10 years, (4) born and raised in the US, and (5) White mainstream. Forty-nine questions tested for data on demographics, acculturation level, knowledge of risk factors, barriers to following preventative practices, confidence and health motivation, and dietary modifications after migration. Palaniswamy used the SAS General Linear Models system to analyze her data.

Results show that acculturation levels progressed along with the amount of time residing in the U.S., but no immigrant was classified as either completely traditional or assimilated. Participants who had lived longer in the US had more knowledge about diabetes risk factors and higher confidence and health motivation for preventing diabetes. They also experienced less barriers to adopting preventative health practices. However, compared to White mainstream participants, immigrant knowledge, confidence and motivation were lower and they experienced more prevention barriers in every case. While acculturation occurred in parallel to diminishing adherence to healthy traditional Indian diets, the author does not consider acculturation to significantly affect participants' motivation to care for their health. Data showed that the participants were unaware of the health benefits of their traditional diet as well as the health threats inherent to their Western dietary transition. Also, traditional diet ingredients were found to be largely unavailable in local stores.

It is concluded that health promotion and diabetes prevention programs for Asian Indian immigrants should teach about the benefits of traditional diets. Due to the participants' adequate levels of motivation for healthy living, the author recommends the incorporation of this educational focus into the design of health outreach programs that empower participants to make more informed dietary decisions. Moreover, she urges that programs should take into account the variable acculturation levels and linguistic, cultural, genetic and socioeconomic characteristics of the target immigrant population.

Prepared by Megan Glore

Introduction: Traveling Cultures and Plants: The Ethnobiology and Ethnopharmacy of Migrations

Publication Type  Book Chapter
Authors  Andrea Pieroni; Ina Vandebroek
Year of Publication  2007
Editor  Andrea Pieroni; Ina Vandebroek
Book Title  Traveling Cultures and Plants: The Ethnobiology and Ethnopharmacy of Migrations
City  Oxford
Publisher  Berghahn Books
Pages  1-13
Chapter  Intro
Language  English
Key Words  acculturation; biocultural adaptation; cultural negotiation; emic; etic; identity; immigrants; transcultural health studies; urban ethnobotany
Notes   Reflective of the accelerated pace of globalization and rural-urban migration today, urban ethnobotany is a rapidly expanding field of study. Pieroni and Vandebroek, as editors and contributors, have published a compilation of urban ethnobotany and transcultural health studies, and the introduction that they co-authored outlines important issues encompassed by these two overlapping disciplines. The book’s twelve case studies, each authored by experienced researchers, demonstrate a diversity of approaches and research questions for studying the plants that national and transnational migrants use for food, medicine, well-being and identity in metropolitan areas of the industrialized world. Past and present contexts of the interaction between people and plants are explored and used in the analysis of transnational movements, urban living, health and health care and biocultural adaptation. Brief descriptions of each of the book’s chapters are provided. Three chapters investigate plant remedies used by Latino immigrants in New York City. One chapter addresses health issues surrounding diabetes for Asians in the United States, and another author researched medicinal plant use by Thai women in Sweden. The effects of differing regulations for plant importation in host countries are shown to affect the ethnomedical practices of Surinamese immigrants in Amsterdam and of Latino immigrants in London. Plant foods are found to be significant aspects of the politico-historical ethnic identity amongst Kurdish people in London, and the use of khat by Somali UK immigrants is investigated in light of its contemporary demonization by Western culture. The final three chapters look into plant use in the contexts of historical migrations in northern Europe, Albanians in southern Italy, and refugee camps in Algeria. The editors identify four key scientific questions that warrant systematic investigation by researchers: 1) Do migrants continue to adhere to their traditional plant use strategies, and if so, why? 2) How does the new urban context affect their health care-seeking strategies and their newly-situated cultural, social, environmental and political identities? 3) How do migrant health care practices and host population medical systems interact? and 4) What is the awareness of host country health workers and institutions about migrant health strategies? In the interest of providing more culturally appropriate health care services for ethnically diverse populations, such research can help heath workers understand immigrants' perceptions, beliefs and practices surrounding their well-being. More emic-oriented approaches to immigrant health care programs could hence be incorporated to institutional strategies. Processes of acculturation and adaptation are pointed to as integral to anthropological discourse on migrant studies. Importantly, the editors stress that “adaptation does not represent a sort of ‘destiny’” (p.4). Today’s state of the art of these concepts instead recognizes a kind of cultural negotiation, whereby immigrants constantly interact with a diverse range of choices and influences in heterogeneous urban settings. Whether immigrants are strengthening their ethnic identities or adapting to the host culture, the ways that they use and represent plants are concurrently transformed, producing dynamic outcomes for their traditional knowledge, beliefs and practices. Prepared by Megan Glore

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