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Traditional Thai Medicine - Preliminary Research Design
7
Transcript
Utilization of Traditional Thai Medicine Amongst the Thai Community of Boston
Geeranan Chuersanga
Graduate Student
Medical Anthropology and Cross Cultural Practices
Intro/Background
- Service-learning site: Thai Association of Boston
- Autoethnographic study
- As a minor minority, I have always witnessed challenges Thais experience when gaining quality access to healthcare.
- Grew up using Traditional Thai medicine.
- My interest in conducting research on Traditional Thai medicine developed after staying in Thailand's countryside as a program participant.
- With Los Angeles continuing to be the home to the largest population of Thais outside of Thailand, our community still remains underserved.
- Would like to identify ways on reducing health disparities within the Thai community.
Research:
Research:
- My research will focus on the traditional understandings of healing for Thais living their lives as new Americans.
- It would be important to conduct research on this group to understand how they were able to bring traditions into the United States, why these practices were altered to fit Western customs, and what information they had to hide when seeing their primary physician.
- I would like to research the process of synthesizing Thai and American identities through their adaption of which traditional healings matter to them and how those traditions were modified after coming to the United States.
Traditional Thai Medicine
- Herbal Medicine
- Spiritual Healing
- Traditional Thai Massage - treatment and relaxation
Literature Review
- In a report analyzed by the Thai Community Development Center, they conducted a survey and found that alernative medicine was utilized by Thai residents in Thai Town.
- Of 161 respondents:
- 27% used Thai massage
- 23% used herbal medicine
- 58% take supplemental vitamins
- Pincharoen and Condon (2003) found that amongst elder Thai persons in the United States, spirituality and health coexists and are linked to all of life.
- Buddhism was described to be a practice that provided comfort and give meaning to life.
- Importance of harmonious relationships with family and friends.
- As a result, older Thais accept their faith and the idea of death.
Gaps
Gaps
- Gaps my research will fill is the utilization of Traditional Thai medicine amongst new Thai Americans living in the United States through cross-cultural practices.
- There are very little research on the Thai community in the United States in general.
Research Questions
- Were their ideas of Traditional Thai medicine a barrier to gaining access to health care?
- How much of their Thai beliefs did they have to hids from their primary care physician?
- Why are temples often utilized as a guide for spiritual healing?
Overal Research Question:
Why did Thais bring traditional understandings of healing into the United States and how did they modify these traditions into their experience as new Americans?
Methods
- Previously mentioned: Autoethnographic Study
- Snowball Sampling Approach
- Most feasible for me because the Thai population in Boston is very small
- According to U.S. Census (2010), there are 762 Thais living in Boston, and 3,529 residing in Massachusetts.
- With a total of 237,583 people who identified as Thai (alone and mixed).
- Participant observations
- Will conduct interviews with new Thai Americans between 18-70 years old who use Traditional Thai medicine.