Name: ___________________________ Class: _________________ Date: __________
chapter 16
1. How does Anne Fadiman’s research among Hmong refugees in California illustrate
the conflicts that can arise between Western and non-Western approaches to
health care and treatment? Describe Lia Lee’s health condition, including how her
parents’ understanding of it differed from physicians’ understanding of her
condition. What experiences did this family have as a result of cross-cultural
misunderstandings?
2. What was the focus of Khiara Bridges’s research in the New York City women’s
health clinic? How did the composition of the patient population compare to that of
the medical staff? What differences did she observe in the treatment that patients
received? What did she conclude about the disparities in health-care outcomes in
the United States?
3. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS across the globe has evoked varied health-care
responses. For example, in Thailand, where it is accepted that HIV/AIDS occurs
among all segments of a population, a successful program stemmed its spread;
however, in other countries, a mixture of denial that HIV/AIDS is a problem for all
segments of society and deeply internalized homophobia have resulted in
disastrous treatment plans and increased rates of transmission. How would you
use anthropological approaches to design an effective local HIV/AIDS prevention
program? In your answer describe at least three aspects of the larger problem that
you would tackle and the approaches or methods you would take to solve them.
You may draw on the cases discussed in the text.
4. Paul Farmer argues that the delivery of medicines and medical procedures alone is
not enough to solve local health problems. Describe three ways in which his health
initiative, Zanmi Lasante, used anthropological methods and perspectives to
address public health-care problems in Cange, Haiti.
5. Anthropologists believe that culture plays a role in the ways that health is
perceived, experienced, and treated. Using the example of Japanese birth
practices, discuss how the birth process for the Japanese differ from the typical
birth in the United States and explain how these processes reflect local cultural
values and community conditions.
6. Discuss how “traditional” Chinese medicine has “gone global.” How and when did
Chinese medical practices become more widespread in North America, Europe,
and other parts of the world?
7. An anthropology professor once said, “Every human disease involves humans.”
Please explain three examples from this chapter that demonstrates how culture
affects and dictates health, wellness, and/or disease.
8. What are two underlying beliefs that shape the traditional Chinese medicine
approach to health care? Give two examples of treatments that it uses. What do
these types of treatment attempt to achieve?
9. What is biomedicine and how do the practitioners view and treat diseases?
Discuss two criticisms that anthropologists have about the European biases in the
model.
10. Describe three ways in which the care provided by Tibetan Buddhist healers has
changed during the past thirty years due to the processes of globalization and
Westernization.
11. The chapter opens with the story of the author’s interest in American football and
the discovery of serious postcareer injuries. How were these injuries first
discovered? Discuss the role of culture in this specific instance of medicine as a
system.
12. Anthropologist Paul Farmer urges us to look beyond superficial and inadequate
explanations for public health crises. Which cause is relatively complex?
a.
Individuals make poor choices, and then become ill.
b.
Local governments and systems are too corrupt to deliver care.
c.
Some cultures have practices that may be meaningful to them, but that
produce poor health outcomes.
d.
International financial institutions pressure localities to adopt policies that
undercut human service provision.
13. The Lees are a Hmong refugee family that resettled in Merced, California. When
their infant, Lia Lee, began having seizures, they took her to a nearby hospital.
Doctors administered medication and prescribed treatments that the Lees did not
understand, both because they could not speak English and because they had
already diagnosed their daughter’s illness and understood the treatment that their
culture specified she needed. What is this situation is an example of?
a.
medical pluralism
b.
health transition
c.
ethnopharmacology
d.
biomedicine
14. During a recent outbreak of Ebola in West Africa, news stories tended to provide
simplistic explanations about local corruption, strange cultural practices, and risky
individual behavior for why the outbreak occurred. Anthropologist Adia Benton and
political scientist Kim Yi Dionne dug deeper, exploring how various systems of
inequality policies played a role in destabilizing all aspects of West African health
care. This sort of analysis is an example of what perspective?
a.
medical migration
b.
critical medical anthropology
c.
ethnomedicine
d.
ethnopharmacology
15. Linda’s health insurance does not cover contraception and only covers one annual
preventative gynecological visit, yet that same insurance covers her husband’s
Viagra prescription and numerous checkups. This is an example of
a.
how health-care practices reflect and reinforce patterns of inequality.
b.
epidemiology.
c.
how health care has a system of meaning.
d.
the interaction of disease and pathogens with the environment.
16. Shipibo shamans use Ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic drink brewed from roots and
leaves found in the rain forest, to treat spiritual and psychological maladies.
Researchers interested in studying its effectiveness are studying
a.
ethnomedicine.
b.
the human microbiome.
c.
ethnopharmacology.
d.
epidemiology.
17. Research revealed that residents of neighborhood X, a low-income area with few
commercial businesses apart from convenience stores, had higher incidence of
cardiovascular disease than residents of the affluent neighborhood Y, which had a
wide selection of grocery stores, farmer’s markets, drugstore chains, exercise
facilities, and private gyms. What nonbiological factor is likely to be associated with
risk of cardiovascular disease in these communities?
a.
medical pluralism
b.
alternative medical practices
c.
social inequality
d.
genetics
18. Emily spent her summer vacation in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she got plastic
surgery for a fraction of what it would cost in the United States. This is an example
of medical
a.
pluralism.
b.
migration.
c.
anthropology.
d.
ecology.
19. In the Andes mountains, a medical specialist called a curandero rubs a sick person
with a guinea pig to diagnose and remove the cause of his illness. This is an
example of
a.
ethnomedicine.
b.
biomedicine.
c.
ethnopharmacology.
d.
tuina.
20. Traveling to Tijuana to buy medicine for high blood pressure, making a pilgrimage
to visit a saint’s shrine for healing, and going to the rain forest to participate in a
ritual guided by a shaman are all examples of
a.
medical migration.
b.
biomedicine.
c.
the movement of germs and disease.
d.
the globalization of biomedicine.
21. Itzel explains to the school nurse that her son, Tlahco, who has been listless and
withdrawn in class, has also been restless at night because he is suffering from
susto, a sudden fright that he got from a traumatic experience that caused his soul
to depart. What best describes Itzel’s explanation?
a.
epidemiology
b.
illness narrative
c.
health census
d.
cultural barriers
22. In Chinatown in New York City, Kaitlyn can treat her headache at a tuina facility, a
Chinese herbalist, a university hospital–affiliated medical clinic, or a botánica that
sells religious icons and herbs from a variety of Latin American and Caribbean
traditions. These options are examples of
a.
medical pluralism.
b.
biomedicine.
c.
traditional Chinese medicine.
d.
medical anthropology.
23. Anne Fadiman, the author of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, studied
the Hmong immigrant population in the United States. What does her work suggest
is one of the biggest challenges faced by this population?
a.
a lack of English language knowledge
b.
a shortage of Hmong physicians available to them in U.S. hospitals
c.
the absence of housing that permits extended families to live together under
one roof
d.
a lack of monetary resources to pay for medical care
24. What are illness narratives?
a.
stories based on a physician’s assessment of an illness
b.
the personal stories that people tell to explain their illness
c.
ethnographic studies of disease and illness
d.
narratives provided by anthropologists to physicians
25. Anthropologist Arthur Kleinman’s work involves collecting cross-cultural illness
narratives. Where can such narratives be vital in the treatment of illness and
promotion of good health?
a.
in spreading Western medicine
b.
in non-Western cultures
c.
in the use of herbal medicines
d.
in providing health care across cultural divides
26. Why is the case of Lia Lee significant for medical anthropologists?
a.
Her parents were eventually able to bridge the gap between their own
medical prognosis and that of Lia’s doctors.
b.
Her doctors were ultimately able to successfully construct her parents’ illness
narrative.
c.
The clash between the family’s beliefs and those of the physicians was a
clear instance of medical pluralism.
d.
The entire event provided a window into the application of non-Western
medicine that is difficult to document in the field.
27. What diagnosis did the biomedical physicians first give Lia Lee of Merced,
California, when her parents brought her to the hospital?
a.
qaug dab peg
b.
soul loss
c.
an infection
d.
epilepsy
28. During the European conquest of North America, entire populations suffered from
the diseases brought to the continent by the conquering armies. In a very real
sense, this early form of “globalization” was a type of medical migration. How does
medical migration today compare?
a.
It no longer includes the movement of diseases across national borders.
b.
It now ignores the movement of faith-based healing across national borders.
c.
It reduces the number of poor patients seeking treatment abroad.
d.
It also includes the movement of treatments for disease across national
borders.
29. Medical pluralism is the
a.
intersection of multiple cultural approaches to healing.
b.
inclusion of medical experts in the use of local healing methodologies.
c.
local use of natural substances in healing remedies and practices.
d.
comprehensive study of local systems of health and healing.
30. Critical medical anthropology analyzes how systems of power affect health care.
What is an example of what critical medical anthropologists study?
a.
the effect of economic systems on government policy
b.
the use of natural remedies in biomedical environments
c.
individual patients’ health-care problems
d.
how health-care systems define who is sick and how they get treated
31. Khiara Bridges suggests that the statistical data for racial disparities in health,
which indicate that black babies die at twice the rate of white babies, are due to
more than just poverty and may be a result of the failure
a.
to fully certify physician assistants in poverty-stricken areas.
b.
to challenge and educate doctors on their unexamined racism.
c.
of Medicaid to provide equal treatment for people of color.
d.
to educate doctors about diseases that only affect people of color.
32. When studying the health care provided at Alpha Hospital in New York City,
anthropologist Khiara Bridges documented health-care professionals referring to
black women as “primitive” and stating that they were better able to withstand pain
than white women. These attitudes originate in
a.
an oral tradition within the medical profession featuring stories and folklore
about black women’s bodies.
b.
the formal education health-care professionals received.
c.
conflicts between physicians of color and white patients.
d.
information that was the result of Medicaid policies and directives.
33. Overall human life expectancy increased from 31 years in 1900 to ________ in
2017.
a.
65.2 years
b.
70.5 years
c.
78.9 years
d.
83.6 years
34. According to the United Nations, in 2015, ________ had the highest life
expectancy at birth.
a.
Hong Kong
b.
United States
c.
Mexico
d.
Iceland
35. According to the text, what is one consequence of the health transition?
a.
Chronic diseases such as cancer have declined as a primary cause of death
worldwide.
b.
Infectious diseases have increased as the primary cause of death in the
United States.
c.
Overall human life expectancy has risen significantly in the past century.
d.
There has been a decline in health inequality across the globe.
36. The “health transition” is
a.
the significant, but uneven, improvements in human health made over the
course of the twentieth century.
b.
the shift from Western-based medicine to other forms of healing practice.
c.
the change seen in how Western doctors are trained in other cultural
practices.
d.
the shift from non-Western medical practices to Western models of medical
treatment.
37. Anthropologist David Simmons has studied and worked with traditional healers in
the Dominican Republic and Zimbabwe who use natural remedies and often
incorporate religious beliefs into their treatments. Which approach does he
advocate when creating health-care programs in countries where people have
mostly relied on traditional healers?
a.
Simmons advocates for incorporating local holistic practices and beliefs into
health-care programs and workshops.
b.
Simmons advocates for teaching local healers to adopt a biomedical
approach.
c.
Simmons advocates for letting local healers continue to use their holistic
approach without intervention.
d.
Simmons advocates for the closing of religious healers’ shops that do not
have an understanding of biomedicine.
38. The work of anthropologists Shirley Lindenbaum, David Simmons, and Paul
Farmer serve as examples of applying anthropology to successfully address
health-care problems around the world. Which of the following techniques did
these three anthropologists use in their work that helped them assist communities
overcome debilitating health issues?
a.
external community involvement
b.
language skills
c.
creation of NGOs
d.
mastered amchi, the local approach to healing
39. Anthropologist Shirley Lindenbaum conducted fieldwork in Papua New Guinea and
uncovered the true cause of kuru, a fatal disease. What did Lindenbaum conclude
was the cause of this disease?
a.
poor hygiene practices that gave rise to a unique type of food poisoning
b.
the reappearance of a rare genetic anomaly that was first brought to the area
by Europeans
c.
the funeral rituals used by the population she studied
d.
the rejection of Western medicine by the local chiefs of the population
40. One of the most significant changes that Zanmi Lasante initiated in rural Haiti was
the training of local community members as health-care workers. What factor was
responsible for their success in identifying local health-care problems and providing
basic health services?
a.
their unflagging efforts to build waste treatment and clean-water facilities
b.
their ability to understand the local language, social structures, and values
c.
their willingness to work with impoverished peoples in terrible conditions
d.
their training provided to them in the United States
41. What was one of the immediate results of the Zanmi Lasante water project?
a.
a noticeable decrease in infant mortality
b.
a noticeable increase in agricultural output
c.
a noticeable improvement in the physical health of those who had to carry
water up an eight-hundred-foot hillside
d.
a noticeable decrease in the number of individuals complaining about the
water quality
42. Paul Farmer’s work in Haiti using anthropological tools led him to recognize that
these same tools could also
a.
be a limitation for doctors working in the remote rural regions of a country.
b.
be a useful way to convince local governments to provide better medical
care.
c.
help doctors think about health in the broadest possible sense.
d.
be used to cure diseases in the United States.
43. Fieldwork allows the anthropologist to accurately record the lives and conditions of
a people, providing significant insights and context to problems. However, Paul
Farmer argues that anthropologists should do more by
a.
writing more about their research to expand other anthropologists’
understanding.
b.
applying anthropological methods and theories to solve problems.
c.
marketing their research.
d.
comparing cultures.
44. Anthropologist and physician Paul Farmer took many steps to improve health
conditions in the rural community of Cange. One of the most important first steps
was
a.
conducting a health census of the community.
b.
finding physicians and nurses to improve health care.
c.
providing clean drinking water to the community.
d.
creating a channel for foreign aid to improve the community.
45. Paul Farmer found that rural Haitian residents were experiencing very high rates of
malnutrition, dysentery, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS. Many of these residents were
water refugees due to the construction of a hydroelectric dam that had flooded their
valley. This problem underlines the difficulty of providing adequate health care in
the face of
a.
globalization.
b.
socioeconomic inequality.
c.
a highly corrupt government.
d.
rural development projects.
46. A Chinese medical student plans to spend her career solving health problems
among children living in slums in Medellín, Colombia. Which of the following is a
piece of advice that anthropologist Paul Farmer would most likely give to this
medical student?
a.
Separate medical understanding from cultural understanding, so the clear
insights of each field do not become muddled.
b.
Either seek to understand the culture, or to intervene in it. Doing both is not
realistic within a single career.
c.
Live in a Colombian slum, learn the language, and understand the
conceptions of health used by children and families.
d.
Work through an international health organization that is based in neither
China nor Colombia.
47. Which of the following is true of the maternity care system in the United States?
a.
While global rates for Cesarean section births have increased, U.S. rates
have remained steady at 32 percent.
b.
In the U.S., labor pain is considered a positive path for women, thus, rates of
epidural use have declined from 70 percent to 30 percent.
c.
Midwives accompany about 60 percent of births, a significant increase over
the last decade.
d.
In the 20th century, the U.S. approach was technocratic. In the 21th century,
it is humanistic.
48. In Japan, births are seen as a normal, natural, and physiological process that
should involve little to no interventions. Compared to Brazil and the United States,
this view fits more with the ________ model of childbirth.
a.
technocratic
b.
humanistic
c.
cultural
d.
natural
49. Brazil has one of the highest rates of cesarean sections in the world. Which model
of childbirth do they practice?
a.
technocratic
b.
humanistic
c.
cultural
d.
disease
50. The complete collection of microorganisms in the body’s ecosystem is referred to
as the
a.
microsystem.
b.
human ecosystem.
c.
microbiome.
d.
biodome.
51. What do scientists now think the purpose of the human microbiome might be?
a.
It is a breeding ground for disease.
b.
It helps reduce the instance of certain genetically developed characteristics.
c.
It is a personal ecosystem that helps combat disease.
d.
It is an artifact from our ancient Homo sapiens ancestors that serves no real
purpose.
52. The human ecosystem, composed of trillions of organisms in the human body, is
understood as a
a.
system of discrete, biological entities.
b.
useful way to collect microbes used for the treatment of other diseases.
c.
potentially lethal collection of bacteria.
d.
complex microbiome.
53. What is an important part of medical treatment that the biomedical model
overlooks?
a.
the scientific means to diagnose a disease
b.
social experiences as a component of disease
c.
pharmacology as a means of understanding diseases
d.
recognizing that biology plays a crucial role in disease
54. Nancy Scheper-Hughes and Margaret Lock reported a case of a woman under
tremendous personal stress. How did the medical students respond to the story?
a.
They advised her to adhere to the prescription regimen.
b.
They questioned the veracity of the doctor’s diagnosis.
c.
They attempted to analyze her illness narrative.
d.
They asked what the real causes of her pain were.
55. The dominant idea of health care in the United States is of doctors in white coats,
hospitals, and advanced technology. What have medical anthropologists found to
be the case in regard to this concept in the rest of the world?
a.
It is one of the most common points of access to health care for people
worldwide.
b.
It is one of the least common points of access to health care for most people
worldwide.
c.
It is one of the least frequently contested aspects of health care worldwide.
d.
It is one of the most frequently contested aspects of health-care delivery
worldwide.
56. In his book The Body Silent, anthropologist Robert Murphy documents his
quadriplegia, which makes him reliant on a wheelchair. From this experience, what
does Murphy conclude is the “ultimate purpose for our species”?
a.
child rearing
b.
the struggle for autonomy
c.
education
d.
creating community
57. The fact that people will inevitably die or grow old reflects which important
concept?
a.
Ability is only temporary.
b.
Average life expectancies are on the rise.
c.
The United States has poor hospice care.
d.
Only some people experience disability.
58. ________ is the embodied experience of people with impairments as shaped by
broader forms of social inequality.
a.
Illness
b.
Disease
c.
Sickness
d.
Disability
59. In the view of “technocratic birth,” which of the following is true?
a.
Women are viewed as strong and capable actors in the birth process.
b.
Expectant mothers are attended to by midwives and family members.
c.
Fathers are expected to hold the mothers while encouraging them.
d.
Mothers can receive epidural injections to manage their pain.
60. We are taught that antibacterial soaps and cleaning products that completely
eliminate germs on surfaces and food are essential to good health. Why is this
approach now under scrutiny?
a.
We have a greater understanding of disease in other cultures.
b.
Research has unlocked all of human genetics.
c.
We are better educated about human pathogens.
d.
We have begun to understand human microbiomes.
61. Geoffrey hoarsely calls his boss and describes his phlegm and high fever. He stays
home and briefly considers going to the movies, but decides not to in case
someone from work sees him. The role Geoffrey has taken on is an example of
a.
disease.
b.
illness.
c.
sickness.
d.
medical anthropology.
62. Which of the following statements accurately describes Chinese medicine?
a.
Researchers have identified a uniform set of Chinese medical practices used
by practitioners within and outside China that complement biomedical
treatments.
b.
It was suppressed as “unscientific” after the formation of the People’s
Republic of China in 1949.
c.
Chinese medicine rejected Western medicine in the early twentieth century
as “inauthentic” and “un–Chinese.”
d.
Chinese medical practices vary widely within China, from patient to patient
and also over time.
63. Which of the following is a question as one that would most likely be asked by a
medical anthropologist?
a.
What are the long-term physical effects of repeated head injuries?
b.
Why would the NFL obscure scientific data related to players’ health?
c.
Which factors predict Alzheimer disease or dementia?
d.
How do repeated concussions impact players’ well-being?
64. Identify the first point of health-care access for most people around the world.
a.
health-care professionals
b.
personal and family knowledge
c.
traditional healers
d.
varies per culture
65. Medical anthropologists use an interpretivist approach to study medical ecology.
Which of the following is the definition of medical ecology?
a.
the interaction of diseases with the natural environment and human culture
b.
the interaction of diseases with the human microbiome
c.
the interaction of systems of power in health care
d.
the interaction of natural remedies with biomedicine
66. From the perspective of a medical anthropologist, all medical systems are based in
a particular local cultural reality and therefore constitute a form of
a.
ethnomedicine.
b.
ethnopharamacology.
c.
biomedicine.
d.
medical pluralism.
67. Since 1996, what has the trend been for the rate of births by cesarean section (C-
section) in the United States?
a.
It has decreased dramatically as more mothers turn to alternative medical
options.
b.
It has increased dramatically, probably more as a result of cultural
conceptions of childbirth than medical necessity.
c.
It has increased dramatically, as the medical necessity for C-sections is
proven by studies of other cultures.
d.
It has fluctuated widely as trends in childbirth have come in and out of
cultural acceptance.
68. The People’s Republic of China moved to institutionalize traditional Chinese
medicine through a number of different strategies, including the export of the
practice to other countries. This was done to
a.
improve the balance-of-trade situation in post-Mao China.
b.
develop better teaching and educational methods for Chinese students of
medicine.
c.
broaden the experience of the “barefoot doctors” in China.
d.
develop ties of solidarity with other developing nations.
69. Chinese medicine conceptualizes qi as a type of energy found in all living things,
which must be in balance to maintain good health. According to this view, what are
two things mentioned in the text that must remain in balance?
a.
husband and wife
b.
heaven and Earth
c.
past and present
d.
the body and Earth
70. Surgical procedures are integral to
a.
the biomedical model.
b.
cultural competency.
c.
illness narratives.
d.
alternative ethnomedical practices.
71. Anthropologists have recognized that Western biomedicine draws heavily on
a.
universally held values.
b.
the experience of the doctor in a foreign country.
c.
Enlightenment values of rationality, individualism, and progress.
d.
the willingness of the doctor to practice alternative medicine.
72. Increased migration has increased the popularity of Tibetan medicine in recent
decades. How is this form of medicine viewed today by non-Tibetans?
a.
as holistic and embracing Tibetan ecological worldviews
b.
as a way to cure the human microbiome
c.
as a rejection of ethnomedicine
d.
as a way to develop sound entrepreneurial practices in health care
73. What has significantly changed in the Ladakh region of the Himalayas?
a.
The cash economy has been undermined, resulting in increased bartering.
b.
Militarization in neighboring Kashmir has decreased, resulting in less stress.
c.
Urbanization has fragmented community life.
d.
Western biomedicine is now widely available.
74. In Tibet, there are about 200 traditional healers, known as amchis, who provide
health care. Their system of health care is based on
a.
elimination of body and spirit as part of individual wellness.
b.
complete separation of body and spirit in the individual.
c.
achieving balance between body and spirit in the individual.
d.
elevation of the spirit over the body in the individual.
75. Dolly, a stay-at-home mother, makes her children breakfast every morning.
However, when she came down with the flu, her kids stepped in to make breakfast
for her. For Dolly, staying in bed is an example of
a.
illness.
b.
emotional labor.
c.
disease.
d.
the sick role.
76. How does the anthropological understanding of sickness differ from the
understanding of illness or disease?
a.
Sickness can be clinically identified and treated by a doctor.
b.
Sickness is the individual patient’s experience of being unwell.
c.
Sickness refers to the individual’s public expression of illness or disease.
d.
Sickness does not release the sick person from social obligations like work.
77. From the anthropological perspective, an individual patient’s experience of
sickness is considered to be
a.
universally defined.
b.
defined by a doctor.
c.
a matter of personal interpretation.
d.
culturally defined.
78. How do medical anthropologists distinguish between disease and illness?
a.
as a pathological condition versus a public expression of infirmity
b.
as a natural entity versus personal experience
c.
as a natural entity versus a condition defined by the state
d.
as a natural entity versus a psychologically treatable condition
79. The World Health Organization calls for a definition of health that includes the
absence of infirmity and complete physical and mental health. What else is
considered in their definition?
a.
muscle strength
b.
economic stability
c.
religious affiliation
d.
social well-being
80. Anthropologists define biomedicine as
a.
the intersection of multiple cultural approaches to healing.
b.
a practice that seeks to apply the principles of the natural sciences.
c.
the documentation and description of the local use of natural substances in
healing remedies and practices.
d.
the comparative study of local systems of health and healing.
81. The study of ethnopharmacology emerged from efforts to
a.
understand the practices of large, international pharmacology companies.
b.
determine the role of herbal supplements in the dietary intake of Americans.
c.
document the local use of natural substances in healing remedies and
practices.
d.
compare systems of health and healing.
82. Medical anthropology takes a holistic approach to health. In addition to examining
meaning and power, what else does this approach include?
a.
promoting ethnopharmacology
b.
promoting biomedicine
c.
epidemiology
d.
genetics
83. What is one important reason why medical anthropology has grown significantly
since the 1980s?
a.
The medical profession has increasingly relied on anthropology for data.
b.
Intensive fieldwork has proved effective in solving public health problems.
c.
More anthropology students have also entered the field as trained medical
professionals.
d.
Anthropological research has become increasingly generous with the ways in
which subjects can be studied.
84. The core values of good health in the United States—personal responsibility, hard
work, and clean living—shape the ways in which Americans approach the concept
of functional health. Where do these values fit in respect to the World Health
Organization’s definition of health?
a.
They are a key part of the definition.
b.
They do not address the problem of unequal access to health care.
c.
They result in complete physical, mental, and social well-being.
d.
They are not part of the definition.
85. While conventional American wisdom attributes good health to good nutrition,
exercise, sleep, proper sanitation, and avoiding smoking, medical anthropologists
consider many other factors when looking at health. What is one critical aspect of
health that is often overlooked?
a.
farming methods
b.
evolutionary shifts
c.
inequality
d.
genetic predisposition
86. An amchi and a cardiovascular surgeon
a.
are both examples of ethno-healers.
b.
exemplify the difference between ethnomedical and biomedical approaches.
c.
are antithetical approaches because amchis draws on Buddhist moral value
and Tibetan ecological worldviews.
d.
both employ Western biomedicine at this point in time.
87. Laurent Pordié and Nomad RSI, a French nongovernmental organization (NGO),
helped local amchis to
a.
grow and distribute medicinal plants to distant villages and establish a school
to train new practitioners.
b.
promote their products in markets for alternative cures that are growing in
Europe and North America.
c.
cooperate with the Indian government to get modern medicine to remote
Himalayan villages.
d.
treat victims of military violence.
88. British biomedicine
a.
is less concerned about high blood pressure and cholesterol than
biomedicine in the United States.
b.
uses fewer antibiotics than doctors do in the United States.
c.
is associated with a greater use of psychotropic drugs, antibiotics, blood
pressure medicine, and C-sections than U.S. biomedicine.
d.
is exactly the same as the biomedicine practiced everywhere in the Western
world.
89. If you are sick enough to miss class, the social agreement about sickness suggests
that you should
a.
eat chicken soup.
b.
pursue an enjoyable leisure activity to lower stress.
c.
be at home resting and following a doctor’s advice.
d.
go to work.
90. Which analytical perspective would a medical anthropologist use to study how
humans make sense of health and illness?
a.
critical medical anthropology
b.
epidemiology
c.
the interpretivist approach
d.
medical ecology
91. Which analytical perspective would a medical anthropologist use to explore how
economic and political systems, race, class, gender, and sexuality create and
perpetuate unequal access to health care?
a.
critical medical anthropology
b.
epidemiology
c.
the interpretivist approach
d.
medical ecology
92. What approach would a medical anthropologist take to understand why some
middle-class American parents with health insurance do not vaccinate their
children for measles, mumps, and rubella?
a.
critical medical anthropology
b.
epidemiology
c.
the interpretivist approach
d.
medical ecology
93. The chapter starts with a discussion about the relationship between football and
brain injuries. Why does the chapter start with this story?
a.
to document a major health scandal
b.
to highlight the relationship between health and culture
c.
to advance the field of sports medicine
d.
to uncover hidden problems with football
Answer Key
chapter 16
