Kirsten Hansen-Day, Oberlin College
“Interculturality and Accessibility: A New Public Health Model in Torotoro, Potosi, Bolivia”
Bio: I am a senior biology major at Oberlin College in Ohio. While I've known for a while that I wanted to practice medicine with underserved populations, I only recently discovered the fascinating realm of intercultural healthcare, that is, the integration of traditional healing systems with Western medical practice. I spent my last semester in Bolivia learning about a healing tradition in which mind, spirit, and social relations are just as essential as one's bodily state. My relationships with people who live within that belief system, as well as reflections on the interconnectivity of my own body, mind, and spirit completely changed my understanding of healthcare. After graduating this spring, I hope to return to Bolivia to continue researching examples of intercultural public health. In the future, I hope to pursue a joint degree in medicine and medical anthropology.
Abstract: In rural Bolivia, it has been observed that the public health system is often inaccessible and underused by the indigenous population due to geographic, economic, and cultural barriers. The Morales administration has proposed a new public health model entitled "Salud Familiar Comunitaria Intercultural" (SFCI) that attempts to remedy these cultural barriers, such as language, beliefs, customs, and biomedical practicioners' disregard for ethnomedicine. But the current policy does not explicitly define how SFCI will be implemented. Torotoro, Potosí, is a municipality that has begun to interculturally adapt public health services and thus demonstrates how aspects of SFCI might be implemented.
It was observed that intercultural attention of the birthing process has significantly increased the percentage of births attended in the health center. The personnel communicate well in quechua and respect the knowledge of the traditional healers. The majority of the population interviewed view the health center positively and support the integration of traditional healers, who are also very committed to the project. Cultural barriers to usage of the system still do exist, but the progress evidenced in Torotoro suggests that SFCI will increase indigenous access to the public health system.
