Mohan Dutta: Culture-Centered Approach

The holistic pain management clinic in Zoller and Dutta (2008), and the bourgeoning popularity of Acupuncture as an efficacious healing method remind me of Mathew, a famous bone healer in a neighboring community in my home country Nigeria. Mathew was famous for miraculous fixing of broken bones resulting from different kinds of injuries, namely car accidents, football games, and more recently commercial cyclists. Accident victims with different degrees of injuries found succor in his magical skills. Mathew’s popularity assumed a crescendo in the 1990’s when the influx of motorcycles popularly known as “okada” a local coinage for a fast means of circumventing traffic in big cities led to rising cases of road traffic accidents and fracture injuries. Particularly interesting is the treatment of patients from orthopedic hospitals reputed for plaster of Paris (POP), which was a standard mode of treating patients with bone fracture. POP, which is a biomedical treatment, lasts for several mon

In reading Mohan and Christina’s posts below, and comparing these to the reading on holistic healing, I can’t help but think about what it means to feel sick or experience pain. One of the excerpts from an interview with a patient includes the statement, “I think the acupuncture did gradually help, but, really, getting a hug from [Dr. Aparna] was the best medicine.” Sickness and pain truly are such a personal matter and, as we’ve discussed in class, a truly personal experience. Like any other personal issues we are faced to deal with, we, as protective individuals, are selective in whom we let into our inner circles of “knowing.” Most often, we let into our inner circle not just a loved one, but a trusted loved one. This is someone who is going to care deeply about what we’re dealing with. They don’t want us to hurt anymore (physically or emotionally). When I was a kid, I can remember having a high fever and my mom often telling me how she would take on the fever herself if that mea

Christina's previous posting and our discussion of meanings of healing this week in the "Culture and Health" class remind me of my grandmother. Christina reminded me of the void in knowledge that has been left behind since nana passed away almost a decade back. Nana, as we 18 siblings growing up in our joint family called her, was and always remains with us as an incredible source of knowledge and wisdom, as a repository of guidance during hours of need. At the deepest moments of needing knowledge and wisdom about decisions in life and directions for action, I try to remember back to what nana would have said, or what she would have uttered, or how she would have guided us siblings. Nana was an incredible repository of knowledge from perspectives that were gathered through her culture, her readings of books and newspapers (I remember her as reading newspapers and books throughout the day, all day, right until the point she passed away), her upbringing as the daughter of

Just about a year ago from today, I was finishing an ethnographic project for a qualitative research class where I spent 4-6 hours a week at the local health department’s free clinic observing the behaviors, conversations, and interactions among those waiting for vaccinations or check-ups in the waiting room area. Interestingly enough, after reading Dutta’s chapter contrasting the biomedical method of curing and healing with various other perspectives, my mind was full of examples of situations where the biomedical system was forced upon individuals as the only viable and legitimate mechanism for improving one’s health. I remember overhearing a conversation between two elderly women regarding a doctor’s disbelief in one woman’s accusation that her back pain was more than mere arthritis and old age. Numerous parents would share with one another their frustration in being forced to vaccinate their children for conditions that they “couldn't even pronounce.” The waiting room itself wa

Purdue has chosen this year "The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks" as the reading for its Common Reading Program. I have been invited as a panelist to speak about some of the key themes that emerge from this beautiful narrative of medicine, disenfranchisement, and social justice. Let me first say, What a great book choice for our freshmen As I have read this book and its chapters over and over again, I am touched by the stories of disenfranchisement of those very sectors of the population who have often constituted the foundations for the development of knowledge. The power in turning human lives into bodies for exploitation by knowledge structures in the mainstream is a theme that works throughout the sub-plots of the book. In one part of the book, author Rebecca Skloot describes for the readers the process through which Henrietta's cells were removed from her body and then entered into the technologies of medicine as sources of knowledge and economic gains. On one h

To situate myself in the mindset of the biomedical model is not difficult to do. I’ve done this my entire life. I was brought up in this school of thinking, through the pathways of treatment my mom exposed me to when I was sick, the preferred technologies in combating loved ones’ illnesses, and the medical knowledge readily shared through the plethora of available media channels. As an adult, I’m readily supporting this model as I have come to rely on it and refer to it for my own daughter. And, thus, the dominant power and its social construction of reality continue to be supported by me, a life-long member. Oh, and should I mention that I’m a white, middle class female with advanced degrees? In the depth and breadth of the CCA discussion, and after the strangely difficult-to-admit-truth above, I find myself wanting to take the opportunity and consider a redefining of Marx’s class consciousness. What does it mean to me, and how does my position, my beliefs, and values contribute to

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a respiratory disease in humans which is caused by the SARS coronavirus . Originally, SARS spread from the Guangdong province of China to rapidly infect individuals up to 37 countries around the world through international communication and flights. It is a typical case demonstrated that how a local government responds to a crisis is intrinsically linked with the ways in which the local government is constituted in the global discourse, which in turn also influence the global policies and reactions to it. Because of the exposure of the media worldwide, China and the whole south Asia’s reputation were damaged. The traveling business was hugely decreased. Most of the international flights were cancelled due to the disease. And here, we could not miss the role of WHO in the whole process of this disease: gave highly attention and support, for example, network was set up for doctors and researchers dealing with SARS; airline passengers were reque

This week’s reading was, again, a clear reminder of what it takes to be an expert in the field… As a communication scholar, the desire to walk the walk and talk the talk entails SO MUCH more than grabbing hold of a fist full of theories, staking a claim with positivists or post-positivists, and rolling out relevant research questions that easily identify with current social issues. Early on in my graduate work, this is how I interpreted the field of research, and I would venture to guess that many other young scholars have done so, too. While I am, by no means, proficient and well versed in my selected academic arena, this last year and a half has begun to reveal to me how credible (and beneficial) research needs to be so much more than just a theoretical framework and an appropriately paired methodology. In fact, I begin to feel a wee bit of excitement when I recognize the relevant areas in which I do not know. Of course, while the landscape of the unknown becomes wider and greater,

Broadly, this week’s readings centre on how corporations and the elite influence policies. The readings remind me of some important scenerios in Nigeria that exemplify some of the issues raised. Of particular significance is the Freedom of Information Bill, an important policy that will enhance accountability and meaningfully impact the lives of several Nigerians.Interestingly, the bill has been characterised by intriques. To put issues into proper perspective, and to illustrate how the Nigerian scenerio fits into the rhetoric in policy making revealed in the readings, I begin with a quotation from Conrad and Jodlowski. The authors poignantly capture the rhetoric used by the elite class and corporations to shield the public from effectively participating in open decisions that shape policies that significantly impact the lives of the public in the following expression: “The simplest means of privatizing public policy making is to press for the creation of structures that allow c

In examining how issues of security and economy are linked with health, Dutta brings to light how global policies can come to impact local actions, particularly in light of determining the availability and distribution of resources. By continually framing health intervention as an opportunity for scientific and technological advancement, coupled with the interests of commercial organizations, health is deeply connected with economic questions at the global level, bringing forth the role of structures in influencing health. Wasteful bureaucratic overhead, high prices, high levels of uninsured, malpractice...it goes without stating that the American healthcare system is in crisis. As a communication scholar, I was intrigued by Dutta’s posing of the question, “How are particular communication strategies used by key political actors to background, discursively, the problems of healthcare?” I began to consider this in light of a side-interest of my own related to the communicative practices

Growing up as a child, I remember the stories my father taught me...stories of the First International, American Federation of Labor (AFL), and of May Day. These were stories of the American working classes, their struggles, and their organizing to secure eight hour workdays for workers. The stories of 1877, the mass action of the American working classes, the Chicago strikes, and the Haymarket Affair were stories of inspiration. The stories of Joe Hill and worker organizing were stories that were uniquely American in the seeds of hope, solidarity, and global organizing they sowed. The stories of labor however were hidden from much of the mainstream discourses when I came to the US in the 1990s. The images of malls, shopping, advertising, abundance were images that made these stories of workers seem redudant and irrelevant. In fact, I found it difficult to relate any of the stories I had grown up listening to with the images of the US in the 1990s, surrounded by songs of nationalist

Today, the first half of the day, Agaptus and I spent at the mobile food pantry in Monticello. Most of our work was broken down into two tasks: unloading boxes and setting up food on the tables, and serving as personal shoppers for the clients of the pantry. These tasks in some ways were the other side of the "specific tasks" we have been doing at the organization, such as sorting food, packing them into boxes etc. The experience of serving as a shopper was overwhelming in many ways. That individual shoppers needed to be guided through the process also meant that we had to tell them how many packages of meat, how many packages of ketchup, how many packages of canned corn/beans etc. they could pick up depending upon their family size. The family size was already figured out at the check-in desk by the volunteer who did the registering. This part of telling how many items to pick up felt difficult to do, particularly as one could tell the discomfort and the pain in the moment

The second chapter in the book has an excellent explanation of CCA and its principles. The section on values and context reminded me, some of my personal research experiences which I thought could fit into it very well. When I was working among the "Chenchu" people in Andhra Pradesh on my Masters dissertation project I noticed that the huts in the hamlets had small rooms next to them which were either empty or filled with old things. I asked the people around, about the utility of these rooms and they said that they were "latrines" built by the state health and hygiene department. I was surprised to know that latrines were provided by the government officials in such a remote "tribal" area. I probed further as to why they are not using them and they said that they are not used to defecating in these closed room for a various reasons. First was that they treat the hamlet land as sacred and hence would not be doing such a polluting act. They believe in defec