Hyperdiversity and the Use of Culture in Refugee Medicine

• In Event: 399 - Section on Medical Sociology Paper Session. Health Inequality: Tracing Trends and Theorizing Processes

Abstract

Although efforts to incorporate notions of culture into medical practice have grown rapidly in recent years, there is little consensus about how “culture” should be defined by medical professionals and taken into account in everyday practice. The effective use of culture in clinical care is particularly challenging in environments of hyperdiversity, where multiple forms of identity and culture overlap within and among individuals and staff members. To illuminate these challenges, I examine the case of a Somali refugee woman named Sadia who was treated in the mental health department of a community health center. I show that despite being categorized by the health center as a member of a discrete cultural group with a pre-defined set of traits and beliefs, she is in fact part of a multi-ethnic family, adheres to complex local norms, and has a unique lived experience that defies classification. Her unique cultural characteristics were not necessarily shared or well-understood by the health care personnel charged with her care, even those who shared the same race, nationality, or ethnicity. These results highlight the importance of micro-cultural context and caution against forms of “ethnic matching” that rely on shared culture among those who share broad markers of identity.

Author

• Seth Donal Hannah, Massachusetts Institute of Technology