The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down - Essay Example

Prof The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down; In Depth Review The story is about Lia Lee a Hmong child with epilepsy. To her family especially to her parents, her disease is not epilepsy but is considered as “quag dab peg” or the spirit catches you and you fall down which symptoms associated with epilepsy, an illness which considered by Hmong people with some distinction, where healing spirit enters the body (Chapter 3), while to her doctors her disease is epilepsy, a serious brain disorder and has no cure (Satischandra et al). Lia’s case was stuck in the middle of two different and clashing cultures; the former being a traditional and based on century old beliefs while the latter is more advanced and scientific. This made the Hmong child a victim of non compliant parents and not a cross cultural understanding or a septic shock. (Chapter 18) The spirit catches you and you fall down tells more about the Hmong people, their culture, their beliefs , their way of life before going to America. The book also tackles their long history dating back when Hmong are living in the river plains of north central China, what their ancestors did to their enemy and colonists (Chapter 2). It gives a further understanding to the readers why Hmong people do not like to take orders; they do not like to lose; they would rather flee, fight, or die rather than surrender; they are not intimidated by being outnumbered; they are rarely persuaded that the customs of other cultures are superior; and they are capable of getting very angry (Chapter 2). It explains their rich history understanding their reactions on various things medical. The author described in details their rituals, the importance of shaman in their society and the role they played not only in their lives and to their culture as a whole. The author also discussed the difference between the shaman and doctors and their misconception of Hmong people about them. It explains who they are as a society, how loyal they are with their culture and how they react and accept when it comes to new ideas and knowledge. It gives you the overview of the whole things, a greater understanding, a greater perspective, a greater respect on Hmong culture. Being in a foreign country, the author explains in her book the feeling of Lia’s parents, the language barrier, the cultural differences, the feeling of freeness in Laos, where you can do whatever you want (Chapter 8). The author tackles also in her the book the characteristics of Hmong parents, their high regards to their children and how they treat and care them. It gives you an overview on how Lia’s parents love her despite her illness, how they cared her despite the difficulties, how they fought for her when the authorities took her away, how the stick to her when the easiest way is out. It gives you an idea that beyond medical explanation, when everything else failed, you’ll see the power of love. The author also tackles Lia’s doctors. Dr. Dan, Dr. Neil and his wife, Dr, Peggy having no idea of the Hmong people and their beliefs, where their only main concern is Lia’s welfare and how can they treat her. Despite of their best efforts and their frustrations towards Lia’s parents due to failing in administering the medicines the prescribed to her and not believing their knowledge as physicians, they never considered abandoning Lia’s case. So imagine their anger and frustration when they found out that Lia’s parents did not give the prescribed medicine to the child, they even sent nurses to Lia’s home to monitor the medications. Lia’s mother having a 15th baby and not giving the proper medication to Lia, this led to the referral of Lia’s case to Health department and child protective services by Dr. Neil. This caused Lia to be removed to her parents’ house and placed in a foster home. Having been removed in her home, Lia’s condition worsened despite the fact that all the prescribed medicines of her doctors were properly administered by Lia’s foster parents. The author never failed to explain the side of Lia’s doctor and why he resorted to such drastic measure. These only shows how Lia’s doctors are dedicated to their profession as well to their patients. I understand Lia’s parents being protective to their daughter but to deprive her of proper medication for her sickness is too much. Every child has the right to receive a good medical attention. Lia’s doctors gave her more than enough medical attention but unfortunately, Lia’s parents’ were the hindrance in attaining the results of this medical treatment. They should have trusted the doctors; they should have followed the medication and doctors’ prescription during Lia’s treatment and they should be more cooperative to the doctors and nurses in giving out information about their daughter. Doctors should be trusted because they studied long years in medicine and immersed themselves in never ending study of human body and illnesses. I came to understand the doctors’ frustrations over Lia’s case. Her parents' inability to cooperate and inability to trust the modern medicine and sticking to their traditional beliefs made harder for the doctor to cure Lia’s illness. Lia parents should have learned to adapt to a new culture since they are now living in another country. They should be more open in accepting new ideas, new methodology especially if their daughter would benefit from it. However Lia’s doctors failed only in one field, their cultural understanding about their patient’s origin and beliefs and lack of communication between the two parties resulted in unwanted outcome. “Effective physician-patient communication is essential for improving patient health outcomes. In medical education, the ability to communicate is recognized as a core skill and the medium through which medicine is practiced. Cultural competence is an integral part of becoming an effective physician, one who demonstrates competencies of a scientifically and technically skilled practitioner as well as competencies of a skilled communicator and more humanistic practitioner. In medical education technical skills and effective clinical communication skills, inclusive of cultural issues, are two sides of the same coin. Failure on any one dimension translates into delivery of poor health care.” (Allard & Waithe). Works Cited Allard I. M. and Waithe, W. E., Preparing Future Physicians: A Reexamination of Communication and the Physician- Patient Relationship though the lens of Culturally Sensitive Teaching and Learning Methodologies. 2009. The Open Medical Journal Betancourt J., Weissman J., Kim M., Park E. and Maina A. Residents Physicians’ Preparedness to Provide Cross-Cultural Care: Implications for Clinical Care and Medical Education Policy. 2007. The Commonwealth Fund. Fadiman, A. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. 1997. USA. Satischandra P., Gururaj, G., Mohammed Q. D., Senenayake N., Silpakit O. and Dekker P. A. Epilepsy: A Manual for Physicians. 2004. World Health Organization. Read More