Why medical anthropology matters
Guest editorial by Cecil Helman
Cecil Helman was Professor of Medical Anthropology at Brunel University. He was awarded the 2005 Lucy Mair Medal for Applied Anthropology.
ANTHROPOLOGY TODAY FEBUARY 2006
In it he had written,
Because of the multi-disciplinary nature of medical anthropology, the discipline must take other forms of aca- demic background, experience and data collection more seriously. This benefits both anthropology and its sub- disciplines - and those with backgrounds in medicine and other health sciences should especially be welcomed into the anthropological community. Their particular experi- ence is a contribution to anthropology rather than a dilu- tion of its approach. For example, I calculated recently that in my own medical career I have carried out at least 200,000 consultations with patients, and have also made many thousands of house visits to patients at every level of British society, from titled aristocracy to squatters, from affluent leafy suburbs to shabby council estates crowded with immigrants or recent refugees. This has taught me more about the nature and context of human suffering than any academic seminar on the semiotics of bodily dysfunction ever could. This type of experience provides another kind of
ethnographic depth- different perhaps from more traditional forms of data collection in anthropology, but never the less one which can provide it with new insights and new theoretical models. My hope is that in the future different types of professional experience, even if they originate beyond the borders of anthropology, will be increasingly welcomed into the discipline, and encouraged to contribute even further to its development. Such an eclectic approach can only benefit, and enrich, anthropology
Cecil was my teacher when I began studying Medical Anthropology in London and later, became a friend. On my visits to London, I would stay with him or at least break bread with him and had a chance to visit him in Cape Town, RSA.
Guest editorial by Cecil Helman
Cecil Helman was Professor of Medical Anthropology at Brunel University. He was awarded the 2005 Lucy Mair Medal for Applied Anthropology.
ANTHROPOLOGY TODAY FEBUARY 2006
In it he had written,
Because of the multi-disciplinary nature of medical anthropology, the discipline must take other forms of aca- demic background, experience and data collection more seriously. This benefits both anthropology and its sub- disciplines - and those with backgrounds in medicine and other health sciences should especially be welcomed into the anthropological community. Their particular experi- ence is a contribution to anthropology rather than a dilu- tion of its approach. For example, I calculated recently that in my own medical career I have carried out at least 200,000 consultations with patients, and have also made many thousands of house visits to patients at every level of British society, from titled aristocracy to squatters, from affluent leafy suburbs to shabby council estates crowded with immigrants or recent refugees. This has taught me more about the nature and context of human suffering than any academic seminar on the semiotics of bodily dysfunction ever could. This type of experience provides another kind of
ethnographic depth- different perhaps from more traditional forms of data collection in anthropology, but never the less one which can provide it with new insights and new theoretical models. My hope is that in the future different types of professional experience, even if they originate beyond the borders of anthropology, will be increasingly welcomed into the discipline, and encouraged to contribute even further to its development. Such an eclectic approach can only benefit, and enrich, anthropology
Cecil was my teacher when I began studying Medical Anthropology in London and later, became a friend. On my visits to London, I would stay with him or at least break bread with him and had a chance to visit him in Cape Town, RSA.
Cecil Helman, an anthropologist, suggested that a patient with a problem comes to the doctor seeking answers to six questions:
1) What has happened happened? This includes organizing the symptoms and signs into a recognizable pattern, and giving it a name or identity.
2) Why has it happened? This explains the aetiology or cause of the condition.
3) Why has it happened to me? This tries to relate the illness to aspects of the patient, such as behaviour, diet, body-build, personality or heredity.
4) Why now? This concern the timing of the illness and its mode of onset (sudden or slow)
5) What would happen to me if nothing were done about it? This considers its likely course, outcome, prognosis and dangers.
6) What are its likely effects on other people (family, friends, employers, and workmates) if nothing were done about it? This includes loss of income or of employment, or a strain on family relationships.
7) What should I do about it – or to whom should I turn for further help? Strategies for treating the condition, including self-medication, consultation with friends or family, or going to see a doctor.
A prominent UCL GP Professor had written: about Cecil Helman
He stimulated me to ask those frequently important questions such as ‘what do you think is wrong with you?’ ‘Why do you think it happened?’ ‘What caused the illness?’ and ‘what do you think will help you to get better?’ etc. It was his ground-breaking book, ‘Culture, health and illness’, which opened the eyes of many practitioners like me to the richness of a patient’s experience, concepts of illness and relationships with health professionals, when so much of the trajectory of modern medicine leads us towards ever greater specialisation, fragmentation and the molecularisation of healthcare. Cecil’s perspective was a counterbalance to the domination of medicine by the physical and biological sciences and helped many health professionals to make sense of their day-to-day interactions with patients.
I am grateful for his mentorship in my formation as a Medical Anthropologist.
Somewhere or other he is having a Talmudic push-pull argument with someone !
We used to joke that Jewish Doctors with Buddhist Inclinations make the Best Health Care Providers..
