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Despite the transformative contributions of Black feminist thought, medical anthropology often fails to recognize or center the works of Black feminist thinkers. We argue that Black feminist theory is critical for a study and praxis of new approaches to healing, health, medicine, illness, disability, and care. We cant continue to simply recognize that current systems are failing us; Black feminist theory moves us past recognition toward transformative liberation. This special issue emerges from works and conversations leading up to, during, and after the first Black Feminist Health Science Studies Collaboratory, held virtually in May 2021. Through the Collaboratory, we propose a new form of coming together around the sharing of knowledge and practice based in Black feminist thought and Black feminist healing arts. The collection of works that follow demonstrates and provides practical means toward a more liberatory practice of medical anthropology.

Anthropological and palaeopathological examination of four male skeletons from Qumran (Near-East) revealed skeletal lesions that may be linked to an intense practice of traditional Jewish rituals within this hyper-religious community of the first-century CE: chronic inflammation of the external auditory canals linked to frequent immersion in sacred baths (mikvah), and osteo-articular lesions following intense and repeated genuflection and anteflexion of the trunk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Ciência & Saúde Coletiva is the property of Associacao Brasileira de Pos-Graduacao em Saude Coletiva and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In recent years, the practice of female genital cosmetic surgery, particularly labiaplasty, has increased in Spain, as reported by aesthetic surgery associations. The aim of this article is to describe and represent the labia minora in online information and assess whether it includes elements that may contribute to body dysmorphia. To achieve this, a qualitative content analysis was conducted on the most accessible Spanish-language websites, selected based on their PageRank. The results show that 71.4% of the analyzed websites promote labial reduction, with the majority being commercial sites from medical aesthetic centers. A significant bias towards the medicalization of female genital diversity is revealed, contributing to the creation of the problem: labial hypertrophy is presented as a pathological condition without objective medical criteria, while critical information regarding risks is often omitted. There is a need to reassess the representations, assumptions, and sociocultural values that inform these medical practices and influence their narratives.

Editorial for the September Issue, 2024

The essay reviews Charles L. Briggs's book "Incommunicable: Towards Communicative justice in health and medicine". Through critical reading and drawing on psychoanalysis and anthropological phenomenology, the essay review examines the different and distinct ways incommunicabilities develop and take form in the text, along with their productive effects. For this, the articulation between affections, body and words is traced. Special importance is given to the scholar's proposal of incommunicability-free zones and their relationship with justice in Health. Finally, it draws on decolonial feminist theory, specifically that of María Lugones, to articulate coloniality and gender as indissociable processes to stress a comment/question on the book what effects will have in Charles L. Briggs's argument to include race-gender as a foundational ground of coloniality? And how will it reframe health/communicative equity and justice? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the practice of female genital cosmetic surgery, particularly labiaplasty, has increased in Spain, as reported by aesthetic surgery associations. The aim of this article is to describe and represent the labia minora in online information and assess whether it includes elements that may contribute to body dysmorphia. To achieve this, a qualitative content analysis was conducted on the most accessible Spanish-language websites, selected based on their PageRank. The results show that 71.4% of the analyzed websites promote labial reduction, with the majority being commercial sites from medical aesthetic centers. A significant bias towards the medicalization of female genital diversity is revealed, contributing to the creation of the problem: labial hypertrophy is presented as a pathological condition without objective medical criteria, while critical information regarding risks is often omitted. There is a need to reassess the representations, assumptions, and sociocultural values that inform these medical practices and influence their narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The medical humanities (MH) are important in medical education, and one of the most relevant is medical anthropology. This discipline constitutes the bridge between the biomedical world and the human sciences because it can detect social, cultural, and psychological variables that can act as barriers to the provision of medical services in epidemic contexts, combining knowledge of pathologies in different cultures and epidemiology. Based on what has been reported so far, this article starts with a research question: what is the role of medical anthropology in medical education? Methods: A scoping review was established according to the PRISMAScR method to try to understand the role of this discipline in medical education. Results: In total, 22 articles were included, and the extracted data were organized into different themes: the reasons for teaching anthropology to medical students, methods used that are useful for medical students, teaching methods and techniques, and some problems regarding anthropology in medical education. Conclusions: The MH may support the decision-making of physicians, thus improving several physician skills to deliver the most appropriate care to patients. On the other hand, medical sciences may provide important feedback on medical anthropology to have an actual impact on curing and caring processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Birthing choices play significant roles in maternal outcomes. This article describes the birthing choices made by some women on Mageta Island (hereafter called simply "the Island") of Western Kenya in relation to Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and free maternity services (FMS) policy ideals. Kenya has officially rolled out UHC and has also initiated universal coverage of maternal healthcare services to reduce maternal morbidities and mortalities. In 2016, the government of Kenya expanded FMS, called the Linda Mama (Taking Care of the Mother) initiative, which targets all pregnant women, newborns, and infants by offering free maternal healthcare services. Despite the existence of UHC and FMS in Kenya, women living on the Island have no access to such services. They therefore devise mechanisms for accessing maternal healthcare services. DESIGN: This study is based on an ethnographic design. Data were collected for 5 months using informal conversations, participant observation, and note-taking with mothers at their homes. The study included interviews with six pregnant mothers who were living on the Island at the time of our interviews. DISCUSSION: It emerged that women relied on their agency to find alternatives to biomedical maternal healthcare services, despite the existence of UHC. Such alternatives included having traditional midwives attend their births in their own homes, migrating to the mainland for proper care, and using kin relations as alternatives for birthing beyond the Island. This article highlights how the implementation of the UHC policy might be tailored to specific local contexts, which could help avert maternal mortalities in hard-to-reach areas such as the Island. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postnatal experience is one of the most under-researched areas within medical sociology and anthropology scholarship in India. Using a qualitative lens, this study examines the postnatal experiences of a particular class of working mothers in Bengaluru, one of India's fastest-growing cities. Through in-depth interviews, the study demonstrates that the postnatal experience of working mothers is layered with social and cultural factors. The findings also revealed that after the delivery, the child is prioritised over the mother, who hardly receives any mental support from her spouse, family members or external network ties. Additionally, these working mothers are often criticised for neglecting motherhood responsibilities and instead focusing on their careers. Expanding the scholarship on postnatal experience, this article highlights the mental agonies and issues faced by working mothers in urban India, as well as in privileged classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Aposta is the property of Aposta and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article "Ramadan in the plague year: Indonesian Muslim responses to the onset of COVID-19" published in Contemporary Islam discusses how Indonesia's two largest Muslim organizations, Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama, responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The organizations promoted public health measures such as social distancing, quarantine, wearing masks, and altering religious practices to adapt to the pandemic. They combined bio-medical and religious strategies to ensure the safety of Muslims during Ramadan in the midst of the pandemic. The article highlights the historical context of pandemics, the similarities between COVID-19 and bubonic plagues, and the importance of cultural and religious components in health care systems during infectious disease outbreaks. [Extracted from the article]

Since the mid-20th Century, electrical stimulation of the auditory cortex has consolidated the field of cochlear implant research. This has led to a redefinition of deafness, considered by experts as a public health challenge, especially in children and newborns, affecting their development. Public health institutions have implemented measures to detect hearing loss in infants early and treat it through implant programmes. In this context, the cochlear implant programme in Spain is examined, evaluating its evolution, impact and benefits in the infant population. This analysis reveals aspects that derive from health imperatives, together with diverse interests, institutional pressures and negotiation processes involving governmental, autonomous community and hospital entities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Female genitalia attract a wide range of cultural discourses related to health, hygiene, honour, decorum, beauty, pleasure or sexual success. These discourses reflect and reinforce social structures and contribute to the socialisation of sexuality. The associations they (re)produce change over time and space, often showing opposing explanations. In some cultures, elongated labia minora represent beauty, health and are associated with pleasure, while Western society has historically disqualified protruding labia minora as a sign of depravity, excessive sexuality and lack of civilisation, thus stigmatising women from cultures that practice labial elongation. Since the 1970s, following the same conceptions of beauty, health and pleasure, occidental biomedicine has described labia minora, which protrude beyond the labia majora, as "hypertrophic". Hence, their surgical reduction by means of an operation, known as "la-biaplasty", is often recommended and an increasingly demand in Western societies. From a comparative cultural analysis, more specifically from the anthropology of the body and of gender, and the critical model of medical anthropology, this article delves into some issues; in the first place, the cultural conceptions of sex, gender and sexuality present in the practice of labial elongation in some societies in Eastern and Southern Africa; it also addresses the Western interpretation of these conceptions in Europe, mainly in the 19th century; and finally the current biomedical discourse on labia minora hypertrophy and labiaplasty surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional Neurological Disorders are characterized by sensory-motor or cognitive symptoms. Recent research has revealed their complex nature involving biological, psychological, and social factors. Care requires a multidisciplinary approach, which, to date, has yet to be considered. A Constructivist Grounded Theory study was conducted to understand the reasons behind this, exploring Functional Neurological Disorders diagnosis, communication, and understanding from multiple perspectives (patients and healthcare professionals). The core category was "negotiating Functional Neurological Disorders meanings and care amid a dissatisfying dichotomy," with sub-categories: i) seeking to "word" the disease, ii) exposing reductionism, and iii) a pluralist vision emerging. Diagnosing and communicating Functional Neurological Disorders is a process of negotiating meanings and care that hinges on participants' diverse ontological perspectives regarding the condition. Results highlight the difficulty in finding common ground and achieving mutual understanding among the various viewpoints, creating a challenge in establishing a unified approach to Functional Neurological Disorders care. In this context, only a few healthcare professionals emphasized the potential benefits of increased integration. A shift is required from a reductionist to an integrated biopsychosocial perspective to develop a more cohesive approach. Defining a medical paradigm through dialogue with teams and patients is essential in addressing Functional Neurological Disorders effectively. Furthermore, the required interdisciplinary approach holds the potential to mitigate the dissatisfaction arising from fragmented and compartmentalized care (the "dissatisfying dichotomy") experienced by our participants. It signifies a comprehensive strategy that could address the concerns of all involved parties and enhance the overall quality of care provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In November 2020, North Dakota reported a higher number of cases and deaths per capita from COVID‐19 than any other state in the United States. Several months later, it reported one of the country's highest rates of vaccine hesitancy, leading to the development and implementation of the state‐funded and physician‐led "Vaccine Champion" ("VaxChamp") program. Glossing the primary problem as one of "provider confidence," the VaxChamp program emphasized a standardized, scalable intervention that targeted healthcare providers directly, and patients only indirectly. Although the program hit its quantitative benchmarks, a qualitative inquiry into the program's history and context reveals multiple crises of confidence, many beyond the bioscientific domain of the program's focus. Drawing from work in medical and linguistic anthropology, we describe and analyze the "multiple levers of vaccine confidence" at play in the intervention and its surrounding context, as well as how these crises of confidence emerged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This article explores the interplay between social medicine and medical anthropology in shaping global mental health perspectives. Methods: In this review, the author has reviewed pertinent topics about the interplay between social medicine and medical anthropology as reflected in his professional work presented in a 2023 special issue of Daedalus and a special lecture delivered to the Taiwanese Society of Psychiatry in June 2024. Results: How societal factors such as economic disparity, gender norms, ethnic conflicts, and global cultural shifts significantly influence mental health outcomes are highlighted. The discussion extends to the mental health repercussions of COVID-19 pandemic, the implications of aging populations, and the growing prevalence of dementia. In addition, the article critiques current mental health strategies, advocating for a broader approach that integrates social, cultural, and economic interventions. The role of community-based care is emphasized, with a particular focus on the effectiveness of community health workers in delivering mental health services. This piece calls for a reevaluation of psychiatric practices to more comprehensively address the complexities of global mental health, urging a move toward structurally and culturally sensitive care solutions. Conclusion: Psychiatry needs to change and will change, owing to global forces and new research that are creating a different kind of mental health-care system for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights the significance of medical anthropology in the realm of mental health sciences and the understanding of the various dimensions of social life. It sheds light on how anthropological cultural studies provide a complementary perspective on the way emotional and behavioral issues can lead to psychiatric conditions. These disorders, stemming from social circumstances, are interpreted, shaped, and manifested within the local context and its inherent meanings. The paper goes on to discuss the relationship between psychiatry and medical anthropology, emphasizing the challenges of teaching medical anthropology at a tertiary neuropsychiatry care center in the northern part of India. It also proposes a teaching model for novice clinicians, residents, and trainees, which is the central focus of this essay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Agora (0211-6642) is the property of Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Servicio de Publicaciones and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Estudios de Filosofía is the property of Universidad de Antioquia, Instituto de Filosofia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

It is difficult to describe the experience of living through the COVID-19 global pandemic while simultaneously teaching anthropology and sociology courses to undergraduates. My students and I experienced together not just the fear of sickness and death, but also social issues in the U.S. made more visible by the pandemic, such as racial tensions, challenges related to access to health care, and consequences of the social determinants of health. The “normal” that many are hoping we return to was heavily shaped by neoliberal policies that conceptualize health and illness as well as personhood in particular ways, such as through defining social problems as medical in nature and using medicine as a form of social control. The issue for us as educators, however, is that stress, depression, and anxiety are normal reactions to real conditions that we are all experiencing, albeit with strikingly different foundations and resources. In this paper I reflect on my own experiences in the classroom and discuss how I incorporated theoretical constructs of intersectional trauma, or trauma-informed pedagogy. I will showcase how I teach students these concepts through medical anthropology. I highlight how these concepts have helped students make sense of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and I argue that this framing is useful for understanding other crises for students and professors alike.

Based on the documents stored in archives, here we present the analysis of the evolution of forms of the epidemic and infection control measures in charitable institutions for children in Saint-Petersburg with the development of medicine, the introduction of sanitary and hygienic standards, and guidelines based on the acquired experience. The causes of mass infection of the pupils have been identified, which were associated with the lack of well-established daily hygienic practices for pupils, their close contact within the institution, and the presence of visiting caregivers in orphanages who had extensive contacts outside. At the state level, until the end of the 19th century, there were no uniform sanitary norms and rules, as well as specialized schemes for their identification and control. As the analysis shows, this resulted in the fact that the trustee boards of orphanages and doctors assigned to them were forced, sometimes with the help of police, to independently introduce restrictive measures at the administrative level, determine treatment methods and manage all emerging issues aimed at preserving health of the pupils, while often not having sufficient professional knowledge and experience for this. The documents suggest that due to the lack of established diagnostic system, the treatment methods practically did not differ for various infectious diseases, and the recommendations of doctors for a long time mainly consisted of changing the diet, purifying the air, isolating patients, and burning possessions of sick children. Considering religious education in all charitable institutions, lents and fast days were supposed to be observed, which required the approval of the clergy, who, although as a rule did not create serious obstacles, but granted individual and limited permits. In the beginning of the 19th century, smallpox vaccination began, and such practices gradually expanded thanks to the state and benefactors, but due to the lack of support from church, as well as conservatism and superstition of a significant proportion of parents, they did not become widespread and routine.

Editorial for the April issue, 2024.

While researchers have highlighted the emotional distress of migrant domestic workers who experience abuse by employers, less is known about long-term effects of the psychological abuse that they experience. Drawing from a broader ethnographic study of Filipino and Indonesian migration to Chile, we analyze three Filipina domestic workers' migration narratives to examine how they narrate and manage the long-term effects of psychological abuse in the domestic workplace that they experienced more than ten years earlier. Building on insights from medical anthropology and using narrative analysis, we contribute to discussions on migrants' mental health and psychosocial wellbeing by showing how these migrants seek to make meaningful sense of their previous experiences to deal with the enduring effects. We show that they construct alternative narratives that foreground their experiences as linked to structural factors and suggest that their psychosocial wellbeing is linked to their ability to subvert or derive meaning from earlier experiences of structural violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Latin American & Caribbean Anthropology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Medical diagnostic imaging tests that produce ionizing radiation now deploy technology that captures an individual patient’s cumulative radiation dose. This raises the question of whether there is an imperative for regional health authorities to disclose this information to physicians who may then engage their patients in decisions about whether the potential harms are worth the benefits of subsequent diagnostic imaging. Currently, the advice of the professional bodies providing standards of practice for medical diagnostic imaging is to withhold this information from physicians. Their concern is that cumulative dose information is difficult to evaluate in terms of risk to individual patients; it is not easily applicable to clinical decision making about the appropriateness of a subsequent imaging exam; and referring clinicians will feel compelled to offer a patient a less efficacious non-ionizing test, which could negatively affect patient care. We present a critical analysis of several assumptions underlying the stance of non-disclosure. Working at the intersection of medical physics, medical anthropology, and clinical ethics, we offer an alternative framing of the discourse of risk that has shaped the recent scholarly debate on disclosure of individual cumulative radiation dose. We posit that a persuasive argument can be made against the stance of the professional bodies and for a policy of disclosure – provided that such a policy prioritizes patient-centred shared decision making, radiologists as risk-interpretation experts, and the authority of the prescribing physician. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical anthropologists working in interdisciplinary teams often articulate expertise with respect to ethnography. Yet increasingly, health scientists utilize ethnographic methods. Through a comparative review of health ethnographies, and autoethnographic observations from interdisciplinary research, we find that anthropological ethnographies and health science ethnographies are founded on different epistemic sensibilities. Differences center on temporalities of research, writing processes, sites of social intervention, uses of theory, and analytic processes. Understanding what distinguishes anthropological ethnography from health science ethnography enables medical anthropologists – who sometimes straddle these two ethnographic modes – to better articulate their epistemic positionality and facilitate interdisciplinary research collaborations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]