Abstract:
This lecture presents results of a project on folk medicine among Latinx in Los Angeles in which 131 interviews were conducted with 49 individuals, more than half of whom were healers associated with botánicas. Contrary to a number of previous reports, research data reveal that the healers were not poorly educated, unsophisticated, or adversaries of biomedical care; that clientele were not exclusively Latinx; and that a number of long-standing assumptions in works on Latinx healing traditions should be reassessed. The present study of ethnomedical treatment offers insight into needs and concerns that could inform the healthcare profession in regard to one of the largest and most underserved populations in the US.
Description:
This talk, the Don Yoder Address, took place at the American Folklore Society's 130th Annual Meeting at the Buffalo Niagara County Convention Center, in Buffalo, New York, on October 19, 2018.
