Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Blog Entry 4
Compare your observations and experiences in Belize to your chosen major or discipline. Take an unfamiliar cultural practice that intrigues you, puzzles you, or disgusts you , and do an anthropological analysis in which you: 1) describe, and give geographical and cultural background for the cultural practice you choose; 2) use research materials to put the practice into cultural context, as a way of better understanding why this is important to the group(s) that practice it; and 3) find parallels in your own culture, where the practice looks different , but it's meant to achieve similar ends.
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Attending the hospital tour while in Belize made compare many things about healthcare to what I have seen here in my major which is nursing. The main thing that puzzled me was the OB area of the hospital. It caught my attention because that’s what we are learning about now and it’s my favorite field in nursing. In the hospital in Belize the Labor and Delivery area was opened, quiet, and there were no medications being used for labor pains. I’m assuming the reason why there areas were only separated by curtains was because of lack of resources and the size of the hospital. The reason why the area was so quiet given the fact that no medications were being used could be because that is how labor and birth in handled in the culture. Also, it could be due to preparedness of laboring mothers for pain and birth process. Traditions could be the reason why labor and delivery was so much different from my culture.
ReplyDeleteWomen have that when labor and delivery is a quiet and relaxed place, they can focus and give birth more effectively. There have not been any attempts to prove this medically or scientifically, just anecdotal evidence. Also, when women deliver a baby without medications for pain, pushing is more effective because the mother can feel exactly when to push as a result delivering the baby more effectively. Moreover, the fewer medications used the less invasive interventions that have to be done at the hospital, which would decrease various risks to baby and the mother. These things combined make for an effective natural delivery.
In my culture everyone goes to the doctor while they are pregnant and to the hospital to have their baby. In Belize women are only required to have one birth at the hospital. Also a high percentage of women request medication for labor and delivery and others even opt to have a c-section. For those that do not choose medication the labor and delivery process is not as quiet and peaceful as it seemed in the labor and delivery area of the Belizean hospital. The end result for everyone is that the baby is born. The outcome is the same in both cultures.
As a nursing major, it was most interesting to see the hospital. I wish we could have spent more time there but I still felt that I was able to observe a lot. One of the most shocking things to me was that they lacked so many of the supplies that we use in the United States. There was no way that sterile technique was maintained in that hospital and it was open air, allowing bugs and pollen to freely enter the hospital. Also, the staff in the emergency room said that if a Belezean came in with a traumatic injury, it was assumed that they would die because the hospital lacks the necessary supples, machinery, and skills to save that person. I believe that this is common in countries in Central and South America as well as any other third world country. I don't think it a cultural practice as much as it is the fact that they simply do not have the money to provide for their patients in the same way as the US. It does relate to culture though, in the fact that it is accepted by all people in the country. It is a known fact that if a person were to have a traumatic injury, they would probably die. It was interesting though that this knowledge did not affect the way people lived their lives. People still drove very fast on the roads, piled too many people in the backseat, and took crazy chances. This probably related to the "worry free" attitude of the Caribbean countries. I am sure that there are hospitals similar to the Belmopan hospital in the United States, particularly in rural and Appalachian areas. We are fortunate to live in an area that has an abundance of hospitals. We have readily accessible, top notch, healthcare. The hospitals in our area have state of the art technology that can keep almost anyone alive. This is a stark contrast to a country where only one person knows how to properly run a ventilator.
ReplyDeleteAs a nursing student, I have had an opportunity of having clinicals at the hospitals in the Louisville area and have also had personal experiences in the hospital when I have had injuries or have been really sick. While in Belize, we had the chance to visit a hospital in Belmopan. If I remember correctly it was considered one of the best hospitals in that area. Once we arrived to the hospital, we were shocked by what we saw. I kept on asking myself this question: If this is considered one of their best hospitals, then how bad are their worst? The first problem I recognized as soon as I entered the hospital was that the entire hospital was open to the outside air. Any pathogens or bugs could enter at any moment in time. This in itself opened up an increase of susceptibility to infection for all patients, especially ones receiving surgery or any type of invasive procedure. The second problem I noticed was that no one was wearing personal protective equipment such as gloves, gowns, or masks and I barely saw any access to sinks for washing hands and hand sanitizers didn't appear to exist. This also contributes to the spread of infection. This is not seen in the US. Personal protective equipment and hand washing are widely used and are of extreme importance in the US. The third problem lied in their lack of resources. Shelves were filled, but not in comparison to what we have in the US. We have an unlimited supply of resources in the US. Looking at these problems, I realize it's not the Belizeans fault. Belize is a country that lacks money, resources, healthcare workers, technology, and supplies. It is something that may always be true for the country and how they run their hospitals is the best of their abilities and somehow, it works for them.
ReplyDeleteBeing in OB class, we learned some interesting things about the culture and pregnant women. In Belize, women are required to deliver their first baby in the hospital. In our culture you're pretty much expected to deliver your baby in the hospital, unless your doing an at home birth which still has a doctor or midwife there in the process. In the labor and delivery area, we learned that no pain meds are given and each woman delivers naturally. This is actually a good thing! In our culture, the majority of women asks for pain meds and gets them on cue! I noticed it was also really quiet in the area and realized this must be that women are expected to be quiet and not show signs of pain. Although I will most likely take the route of using pain meds when I have a child, I do wish natural child birth was more prevalent. Unfortunately, that's just not a part of our culture.
In the ER, we learned that anyone who came in for trauma would most likely die due to lack of resources, knowledge, and technology to care for a patient with a traumatic injury. If anyone in Louisville had a traumatic injury they would be sent straight to University Hospital where they can treat just about ANYTHING. In hospitals throughout the US, we have all the resources and technology and if a hospital doesn’t, then you'll be sent immediately to a hospital that does.
This all was a major culture shock to me, but it made me highly grateful for what we have access to in the US. I wish their was something we could have done to make a difference in the hospital system in Belmopan.
Being a respiratory therapy major, it is more difficult to compare my field to that of the healthcare in Belize because they do not have an RT field. So, what I took most from our trip was when we went to the Belmopan hospital and got to experience their healthcare system. What surprised me the most was the lack of sterilization and cleanliness. In the hospitals in the US that is one of the largest things to watch out for, is to keep everything sterile and bacteria-free. In the hospital in Belize there were ants crawling on the wall, leaky ceilings, broken windows, etc. things that would be on the top priority list of fixing in the US, but are seen as a very low priority in Belize, mostly because the money and supplies they have are limited.
ReplyDeleteThe lack of sterilization is shocking in Belize, the nebulizers were covered by a fish net type cover, supposedly to keep them sterile, while people walked by. The oxygen humidifiers had dirty water in them, growing some unknown substance. I rarely saw gloves or hand sanitizers of any kind, while here they are 3 to 4 boxes of gloves in each patients room and hand sanitizers on every corner in the US. But that is the product of our over protective life style and the Belizean “laid- back” life style. If I could choose, I would want to live the Belizean life style instead of being scared of getting sick whenever I touch a door handle. When looking at statistics of life expectancy of an average Belizean compared to an average American, the numbers of years is not that different.
My observations and experiences in Belize compared to my major were very different but also the same in many ways. The same because the hospital we visited was set up a lot like a hospital in the United States. Different because the hospital lacked appropriate supplies or had very little of what they did have. At the hospital we learned that if you suffered a major trauma then "you die." Here we have the resources to save lives for just about any injury. Their hospitals, just like ours are divided into different departments such as triage, OB, Psych and Peds. A difference in their health practices compared to what we learn in the United States is the major reliance on alternative medicine. The hospital is not the first choice, like it would be with most people here. In Belize alternative medicine is pretty much common knowledge. You could ask almost anyone on the street and they would know something about the medicinal plants in Belize.
ReplyDeleteA cultural practice in Belize that intrigues me was something that they talked about while in the hospital. It intrigued me because it is uncommon here in the US but it does happen. The practice I am referring to is Natural Childbirth. I have some experience with the subject because my mother had all four of me and my siblings this way. What is intriguing about it is in the United states it is commended that you can experience the pain of labor without assistance. In Belize it is common practice. Also in the United States labor is somewhat feared, in the sense that women will go to the hospital with even the slightest change in their body. In Belize the women wait until they know the baby is coming to come to the Hospital and if they are unable to make it they have it at home. I am sure that a big factor that influences natural childbirth in Belize, besides culture is cost. I do not think that the people would be able to afford the medicine even if it were available. Also another factor could be tradition. This is the way it has always been done. The women handle it effectively so why change it now. I think this practice is interesting not only because my mother did it and because everyone there does it but also because right now I am in OB clinical and the women almost always try to postpone receiving the pain medicine as long as they can. This is weird to me because they know that they are going to ask for it so why not get it at the onset of pain instead of waiting. It is almost like every women is trying to see how much pain they can handle, maybe this is because the women know that the pain of child labor is supposed to be experienced.
From Becca Roy
ReplyDeleteBased on what we saw and heard in Belize, respiratory therapy does not really exist in their country. From what they told us, their country does have a large amount of breathing problems, but the majority of conditions go untreated or treated with herbal remedies. I think they would benefit from respiratory therapy, but as we talked about, once you bring something new into a country, it also brings a whole new set of other problems.
Natural birth is a cultural practice absent in the majority of Americans. In Belize, the idea of using an epidural or cesarean birth never crosses their minds. They mainly use the support of their friends and herbal remedies to ease the pain of child birth. I believe Belize and other developing countries use natural birth because they do not know any different. They do not have the medical technology to help trauma patients let alone equipment to aid in an already naturally sufficient system, such as child birth. I think that natural birth is not only important to the specific culture of Belize, but to all women. As research has shown, a natural birth will benefit both the child and mother physiologically and psychologically. The mother will have a quicker recovery after the birth and decrease the exposure of drugs to their child. The mother will be able to hold and breastfeed the infant directly after birth. In America, there is an increasing push towards natural birth and a varied amount of resources to prepare the mother, but still the medical field pushes for cesarean births and anesthetics to be used in childbirths.
Elaine:
ReplyDeleteRather than using my major, I shall look at my discipline. One thing that I found absolutely fascinating and actually had to turn a blind eye on was food safety. I should say lack of food safety. I never viewed refrigeration as a privilege but as a common way of life. When one thinks back in history, refrigeration is a rather new concept that is not available to all.
In the US, we expect our foods to be monitored and safe. We don’t expect when we go into a restaurant that the food may have to come in from a long distance and frozen or straight from the forest. In an underdeveloped country such as Belize, it is not always an option.
In earlier history, people used snow and ice to cool down food. In Belize, I don’t recall where the nearest snow/ice capped mountain was spotted. There was some refrigeration in Belize, but I also don’t recall seeing the local health department score on any of the food establishments visited.
I guess we as Americans of a developed nation truly take these things for granted and expect big brother to take care of us. In underdeveloped nations, such as Belize, it is every person for themselves or pure trust that what you place in your mouth won’t make you ill.
If an illness does arise from spoiled food, your local herbalist is there to fix you up with grated bees nut or a peppermint tea.
In the US if an illness arises from bad food, it is sometimes thought that a trip to your local emergency room is a right. And then if you became ill after eating at a restaurant it is wondered how and why didn’t that company or the government protect me?
Both developed nations and underdeveloped nations have a way to handle illness from food safety mishaps. Some of us just choose a more expensive route to get there. Or, in developed nations we take for granted the actual steps that have been put in place for our protection.
Elisa Archer:
ReplyDeleteAs far as being a nursing student in Kentucky vs. Belize I really did not see many differences at all. The one nursing student I spoke with at the health fair who stopped by briefly seemed to be just as restricted as we are and was in a hurry to get back to her studies. They even have our same dreadful OB book. The differences to me lie not in the education, but in the ability of finances. To me it was weird how similar things were. The hospital seemed to be divided up into sections just as any American hospital would be and was even promoting breastfeeding as we do in America. One of the posters was advising parents who do choose breastfeeding to forgo pacifiers because they can be detrimental, which is something we also teach our parents in the US. The thing that bothered me the most was not the statement of if you have a serious injury you die, or the PPE posters without the PPE, although that could definitely cut down on nosocomial infections, but the upset lady in the waiting area that was complaining about the way she, and other Belizians are treated by the staff. She said ever since Belize got their independence from Great Britain, the Belizian people have been treated like minorities by many of the Hispanic and Cuban medical staff. She said that morning she greeted one of the nurses and the nurse responded with a distasteful look of embarrassment that the Belizian women would do such a thing as speak to her. She pleaded for our help in reestablishing equality amongst the different cultures of people. To me this was the most upsetting because it is something not directly related to financial capability and it never heartwarming to hear a group of people being discriminated against. Becoming more culturally aware is definitely something we could also work on in the US. Different cultures go about things differently and I think it should be any care providers job to know what those differences are, or ask the patient if you are providing care as they would prefer.
Chelsea
ReplyDeleteBeing a nursing major, the hospital we visited in Belmopan sticks out greatly in my mind. I cannot get over the feeling of shock at seeing their lack of supplies needed to protect both the patients and the employees. Not once did I see a box of gloves or a bottle of hand sanitizer. There was no personal protective equpiment (PPE), although there were signs about the importance of the PPE.
This moment really sticks out in my head, because i think of the hundreds of gloves a hospital goes through in a single day, and this hospital does not have even one box that I saw. I am assuming it all boils down to funding for the hospital. The money the hospital recieves is spent on the vital things, such as needles, medications, etc. But when its time to by protective gear, there simply is no money left in the budget. So the patients and employees must go without.
PPE is extremely important for hospitals to use. It decreases transmission of diseases from patient to patient. It also decreases the number of infections hospital workers contract and bring home to their families.
Hospital funding is not just a problem in Belize, it even is a problem in our own hospitals in the USA. Hospitals across the nation are being hit with budget cuts. These cuts in funding decrease the hospitals' ability to care for the poor and uninsured of America. So the funding is a huge problem in Belize, along with other underdeveloped countries, but it hits us home as well.
Post from Erika
ReplyDeleteBefore we went to Belize, I tried to think of what their hospital may be like compared to the ones in the US. When we got there I was in shock. It was not at all what I expected. Being a Respiratory Therapy major, I was surprised at the lack of respiratory equipment. I did not see any ambu bags, ventilators, or even nurses wearing gloves.They are in need of respiratory but they do not seem to have the equipment or the opportunity to do so.
A huge difference I noticed is many citizens do not go to the hospital. They rely on their traditional medicines and the love of their family. I always wondered what happened when they had trauma patients and to hear that "they just die" was heartbreaking. Some people today in the US do the same but the majority rely on healthcare such as hospitals or urgent care facilities. Belize shutting down the main section of the hospital was also a huge culture shock because that is something we would never expect here. Due to lack of sanitation and most likely improvement of patients, I would've expected their hospital to be full of patients.
I loved the Belizean out look on life, as being more laid back, but it would scare me how laid back their healthcare is or the lack of healthcare. If I chose to live there I believe I would have to be more open to herbs than I am now. Many seem to live a healthy life with their herbs than we seem to with our over the counter drugs and hospitals.
Lindsay Heister
ReplyDeleteWhile visiting Belize, one of my favorite experiences was meeting and speaking with the herbalists. This was very interesting for me because I'm so used to taking nursing classes where the only treatment discussed is Western medicine. I loved getting the first hand experience of alternative medicine. I really think that alternative medicine has a lot to offer and it would be greatly beneficial to countries that predominately practice Western medicine.
One of the cultural norms in Belize that intrigued me was their lack of recognition of psychosocial disorders. Mental illness in the United States is a huge area of the medical field, but in Belize (according to both herbalists), health care providers are quick to overlook mental illness. If I remember correctly, Lucia's son suffered from a mental illness (Bipolar Disorder?), and she had been working to help her son cope with this. She had to take this care upon herself if she wanted to help her son; I applaud her work, but I also find it odd that professional health care providers refuse to see this disease as serious.
I understand that Belize's health care system is very underdeveloped compared to the United States, but I did not realize this would mean certain areas of health care would be overlooked. I suppose I can understand that because Belizeans are just starting to really dive into standardized health care, such complex diseases, like Bipolar Disorder, might be too overwhelming to deal with. Once a better understanding of these types of diseases is gained, maybe they will no longer be swept under the rug.
I do not see too many similarities in the way Belize deals with psychosocial disorders and the way the US deal with them, at least from a health care perspective. However, I can see how people of both cultures are quick to make judgments within society. In both countries, people with psyche disorders are not held in high esteem within society. Perhaps people in Belize are more likely to carry this stigma over into the health care field, than people in the US. I would like to believe that US health care treats their psychosocial patients with more sympathy and more aggressive treatments, however the stigma in society in both countries of a mentally unstable person is unfavorable.
Lindsay, it was Ms Joyce's son who had mental illness and her nepher also was affected.
ReplyDeleteAs a psychology major, I found the lack of mental health services available in Belize to be of particular concern. During our visit to Belize we were confronted with the issue of mental health services by several people. While visiting Numasa, we learned about mental illness in Belize and some alternative approaches to treatment. In the United States, it is becoming more common for people to seek mental health services, such as therapy and medication. However for Belizians who suffer from mental illness, they're options are very limited in the way of treatment.
ReplyDeleteThere are more traditional approaches to healing ailments of the mind and spirit, one may see a shaman within the community. Shamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. In areas where indigenous shamanism still thrives, there is a clear divide between "lay" people (who participate in and practice shamanic belief and tradition) and the professionals or specialists themselves.
A shamanic professional, who is a highly-trained and very often spiritually selected individual, is sometimes known as a shaman. Shamanism encompasses the belief that shamans are intermediaries or messengers between the human world and the spirit worlds. Shamans are said to treat ailments/illness by mending the soul. Alleviating traumas affecting the soul/spirit restores the physical body of the individual to balance and wholeness. The shaman also enters supernatural realms or dimensions to obtain solutions to problems afflicting the community. Shamans may visit other worlds/dimensions to bring guidance to misguided souls and to ameliorate illnesses of the human soul caused by foreign elements. The shaman operates primarily within the spiritual world, which in turn affects the human world. The restoration of balance results in the elimination of the ailment.
This approach to mental health is much different from modern medicine which works on a primarily physical or chemical level. Shamanism seems to encompass a more subtle spiritual approach to healing mental illness.