Winter 2015 – Care for Laotian Ethnic Minorities: A Cross-National Study of Medical Students in Laos and California

Posted on by

Care for Laotian Ethnic Minorities: A Cross-National Study of Medical Students in Laos and California

Author: Katherine Crabtree1,Oanh L. Meyer2, Tonya L. Fancher3

Author Affiliations:

1UC Davis College of Medicine, Sacramento, CA, USA

2UC Davis School of Medicine, Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Department of Neurology, Sacramento, CA, USA

3UC Davis School of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, Sacramento, CA, USA

[button link=”http://msrj.chm.msu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Winter-2015-Care-for-Laotian-Minorities.pdf” type=”big” color=”green” newwindow=”yes”] Full Text Article PDF[/button]

Corresponding Author: Katherine Crabtree, katcrabtree[at]gmail.com

Key Words: Hmong; Mien; Laos, refugees; cross-cultural healthcare; medical education.

Abstract: Background: In both the United States and Laos, Lao ethnic minority patients face cultural and linguistic challenges to adequate medical care. We may be able to learn from Lao experiences to improve care for patients in the United States. This study explored Laotian and American medical students’ experiences in care for these patients. Methods: Laotian and American medical students (n_19) participated in five interview groups discussing barriers to health care and strategies for addressing barriers for Laotian ethnic minority patients. Results: The students identified similar barriers to care. Laotian students identified unique strategies to address barriers to care. American students focused on general approaches to cross-cultural care. Discussion: The strategies that Laotian medical students learn in their training reflect their extensive exposure to Hmong and other Laotian ethnic minority patients, while American students learn broad strategies to care for many minority groups. Further work is needed to determine if their experience can be translated into the domestic context.

Published on date: January 1, 2015

Senior Editor: Ghadear Shukr

Junior Editor: Nadine Talia

DOI: Pending

Citation: Crabtree K, Fancher TL, Meyer TL. Care for Laotian Ethnic Minorities: A Cross-National Study of Medical Students in Laos and California. Medical Student Research Journal. 2015;4(Winter):66-70.

References:

  1. Ghent A. Overcoming migrants’ barriers to health. Bull World Health Org 2008; 8: 583-4.
  2. Habarad J. Refugees and the structure of opportunity: transitional adjustments to aid among U.S. resettled Lao Iu Mien, 1980-1985. Center Migrat Stud Spec Issues 1987; 5: 66-87.
  3. Yeung B. We are the people: the history of the Iu-Mien. SF Weekly 2001; 20.
  4. Lum T. Laos: background and U.S. relations. Congressional Research Service Report for Congress 2008. Available from: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL34320.pdf [cited 20 December 2011].
  5. US Census Bureau, 2010 United States Census. 2010. Available from: http://www.census.gov/2010census [cited 20 December 2011].
  6. Catanzaro A. Health status of refugees from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. JAMA 1982; 247: 1303-8.
  7. Laos overview. World directory of minorities and indigenous peoples. 2005. Available from: http://www.minorityrights.org/4014/laos/laos-overview.html [cited 20 January 2014].
  8. Depke J. Coalition building and the intervention wheel to address breast cancer screening in Hmong women. Clin Med Res 2011; 9: 1-6.
  9. Murphy-Thalacker K. Hypertension and the Hmong community: using the health belief model for health promotion. Health Promot Pract 2010; 13: 6.
  10. Johnson S. Hmong health beliefs and experiences in the western health care system. J Transcult Nurs 2002; 13: 126-32.
  11. Culhane-Pera K. ‘We are out of balance here’: a Hmong cultural model of diabetes. J Immigr Minor Health 2007; 9:179-90.
  12. BBC. Thai army deports Hmong to Laos. 2009. Available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8432094.stm [cited 7 January 2013].
  13. de Boer H, Lamxay V. Plants used during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum healthcare in Lao PDR: a comparative study of the Brou, Saek and Kry ethnic groups. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed 2009; 5: 25.
  14. Sydara K. Use of traditional medicine in Lao PDR. Complement Ther Med 2005; 13: 199_205.
  15. Douangphachanh X. Availability and use of emergency obstetric care services in public hospitals in Laos PDR: a systems analysis. Biosci Trend 2010; 4: 318-24.
  16. UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Concluding observations, Lao People’s Democratic Republic; 2005. Available from: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/42de64284.html [cited 23 December 2012].
  17. Kanashiro J, Hollaar G, Wright B, Nammavongmixay K, Roff S. Setting priorities for teaching and learning: an innovative needs assessment for a new family medicine program in Lao PDR. Acad Med 2007; 82: 231-7.
  18. Shirayama Y. Modern medicine and indigenous health beliefs: malaria control alongside ‘Sadsana-phee’. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health 2006; 37: 622-9.
  19. Fadiman A. The spirit catches you and you fall down: a Hmong child, her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures. New York: Noonday Press; 1998.
  20. Hmong American Partnership. Available from: http://www.hmong.org/page334122813.aspx [cited 27 November 2012].
  21. Reznik V. Hais cuaj txub kaum txub _ to speak of all things: a Hmong cross-cultural case study. J Immigr Health 2001; 3: 23-30.
  22. Michaud J. Handling mountain minorities in China, Vietnam and Laos: from history to current concerns. Asian Ethnicity 2009; 10: 25-49.
  23. Keomany S. Toad poisoning in Laos. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2007; 77: 850-3.
  24. Miles B. Qualitative data analysis: an expanded sourcebook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; 1994.
  25. Dedoose web application for managing, analyzing, and presenting qualitative and mixed method data. Los Angeles, CA: Socio Cultural Research Consultants, LLC; 2012.
  26. Martin D. Refugees and Asylees: 2011 annual flow report. US Department of Homeland Security Office of Immigration Statistics. Available from: http://www.dhs.gov/refugees-andasylees-2011 [cited 1 November 2012].
  27. Bhutanese refugee health profile. CDC; 2012. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/immigrantrefugeehealth/profiles/bhutanese/background/index.html [cited 22 December 2012].
  28. World Health Organization (2012). Country health profiles. Available from: http://www.who.int/countries/en/ [cited 22 December 2012].
  29. Wong C. Adherence with hypertension care among Hmong Americans. J Community Health Nurs 2005; 22: 143-56.

[facebook] [retweet]