By Elizabeth Markowitz “As always, as people, there are problems … perhaps they happen [as depression] but one does not know the form…” – Tzununá woman How does major depressive disorder exist in a society lacking a word for it? I studied this question through the lens of the female experience of tristeza (sadness) in…
Tag: Guatemala
Reflections from an Anthropology Field School: A Crash Course in Cross-disciplinary Communication
I recently participated in a field school run by the NAPA-OT subsection of the AAA in Antigua, Guatemala. The month-long project on which I worked interrogated the lack of effective communication between different providers of maternal healthcare in the country; biomedical practitioners (OBGYNs & doctors), and non-biomedically trained midwives (‘comadronas’). With one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in Latin America, overcoming boundaries to effective collaboration and referral networks between all medical providers in Guatemala is a key global health concern.