Hispanic Parental Beliefs and Practices in the Management of Common Childhood Illnesses: A Review of the Literature

Introduction: Hispanic parents are more likely to perceive common childhood illnesses as serious and needing immediate attention compared with other groups. The purpose of this review is to describe the factors that influence Hispanic parental management of common childhood illnesses. Method: A systematic search of PubMed, PsycINFO, and Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature was conducted. Studies were screened and reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines. Results: Fifteen studies met the inclusion criteria for synthesis. Key findings include the following: (a) parental fears around common illnesses, (b) belief in folk illnesses, (c) use of traditional healers and remedies, (d) family members as a source of health information, (e) medical pluralism, and (f) barriers to care. Conclusion: Hispanic parents simultaneously engage both biomedical and folk spheres of treatment. More current research is needed to understand Hispanic beliefs and practices and to formulate culturally sensitive interventions in this population.

The Intergenerational Embodiment of Social Suffering

This chapter explores how market and working-class women in Bolivia perceived children's health to be affected through mothers' faulty emotional responses to distress and through their bodies. Focusing on the experience of two working-class women in Punata, the chapter examines the intergenerational embodiment of emotional distress and the ways in which social suffering affects children through folk illnesses known as arrebato and debilidad. The discussion centers on the interrelationships among maternal emotions, breastfeeding, pregnancy, and infant susceptibility to illness. The cases are presented within the context of the global war on drugs and money-laundering activities that reveal the entanglement of the interrelational politics of emotional expression, gender relations, and the impact of the economic reforms and the coca/cocaine industry at a local level.

Culture-bound syndromes in migratory contexts: the case of Bolivian immigrants

ABSTRACT Objective: to describe the culture-bound syndromes maintained by Bolivian immigrants in the new migratory context and analyze the care processes of these health problems. Method: qualitative research with an ethnographic methodological approach. Sample: 27 Bolivian immigrants. In-depth interviews and participatory observation were the strategies used for data collection. Data were classified and categorized into logical schemes manually and using the ATLAS-ti program v.5. Results: susto, “wayras”, amartelo, pasmo de sol, pasmo de luna and pasmo de sereno are some of the folk illnesses that affect the Bolivian immigrants and that they have to treat in the new migratory context. Conclusions: in the new environment, the group under study preserves culture-bound syndromes that are common in their country of origin. The care strategies used for these health problems are adapted to the resources of the new context and based on interactions with the domestic environment, biomedicine and traditional medicine. It was observed the need for the health professionals to realize that the efficacy of certain therapies occurs within the scope of cultural beliefs and not in that of the scientific evidence.