Medical Anthropology:
McElroy and Townsend Chapter 1
I. ANTHROPOLOGY
- the study of humans and what it means to be human
- The four subfields
- Cultural anthropology
- Physical anthropology
- Linguistic anthropology
- Archaeology
II. Medical Anthropology
- ETHNOMEDICINE
- emic perspective
- culturally defined
- culturally diagnosed
- BIO/WESTERN MEDICINE
- clinical entity
- diagnosis and treatment independent of cultural context
III. The ecological approach to medical anthropology
- the study of health and disease in relationship to the environment
- holistic
- systems approach
- health, community, culture, and environment
- unintended consequences
- adaptive responses
- multidisciplinary
IV. Witch’s Hat Model
- Cell
- Organism
- Human populations
Biotic --- Abiotic --- Cultural Environments
V. Discussion:
Describe an example of "health as a measure of environmental adaptation" from your text.
VI. Discussion:
From your own experiences, describe an example of the influence of the environment on health.