Books like Medicine & culture by Lynn Payer

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks follows the story of Henrietta Lacks, a poor black tobacco farmer whose cancer cells were taken in 1951 without her consent and later became the first immortal human cell line, HeLa, driving major scientific breakthroughs while raising questions of ethics, race, and medical exploitation.

An authoritative reference on medical anthropology, covering core concepts, health systems, sociopolitical influences, and comparative health practices of over 50 cultures worldwide.

"Written for all health care providers, this text promotes awareness of the dimensions and complexities involved in caring for people from culturally diverse backgrounds. The author through discussions of her own experiences, shows how cultural heritage can affect delivery and acceptance of health care and how professionals, when interacting with their clients, need to be aware of these issues in order to deliver safe and professional care. Traditional and alternative health care beliefs and practices from Asian American, African American, Hispanic, and American Indian perspectives are represented."--Jacket.

"The medical establishment has become a major threat to health. The disabling impact of professional control over medicine has reached the proportions of an epidemic. Iatrogenesis, the name for this new epidemic, comes from iatros, the Greek word for physician, and genesis, meaning origin. Discussion of the disease of medical progress has moved up on the agendas of medical conferences, researchers concentrate on the sick-making powers of diagnosis and therapy, and reports on paradoxical damage caused by cures for sickness take up increasing space in medical dope-sheets ... The public has been alerted to the perplexity and uncertainty of the best among its hygienic caretakers ... This book argues that panic is out of place. Thoughtful public discussion of the iatrogenic pandemic, beginning with an insistence upon demystification of all medical matters, will not be dangerous to the commonweal."--Introduction.

"Culture in Clinical Care: Strategies for Competence explores theory and practice to define and describe the multidimensional nature of culture and its interaction with an individual's experience in the development of beliefs, values, and behavior. The newly updated Second Edition examines cultural beliefs related to health and wellness and how these beliefs and their associated actions affect intervention strategies. This one-of-a-kind text by Dr. Bette Bonder and Dr. Laura Martin provides health care practitioners and students with chapter objectives, critical thinking questions, interdisciplinary case studies and examples, numerous activities to build observation and interaction skills, comprehensive references and online resources, and images. The book's organization emphasizes practice and reflection by interweaving theory, examples, and continuous hands-on application of concepts. Readers have the opportunity to practice what they are learning and evaluate their own effectiveness while being constantly reminded that all individuals in any interaction embody numerous cultural influences. Benefits of the updated Second Edition: - Training and practice in ethnographic methods that build awareness and skill - Numerous examples, exercises, and activities for reflection and observation - Interdisciplinary approach suitable for cross-disciplinary teaching contexts - Definition of health care professions themselves as cultures - Web and bibliographic resources - Case studies involving a wide range of practitioner disciplines and cultural groups Instructors in educational settings can visit www.efacultylounge.com for additional material to be used in the classroom, including a sample syllabus"--Provided by publisher.