Applied medical anthropology is the medical anthropology approach that focuses on the context of health care so as to improve the effectiveness of health interventions (Joralemon 2010:10).  Its application can be found both nationally and internationally because the U.S.A. is a melting pot of different cultures and because international health organizations, such as the United Nation's World Health Organization (WHO), generally practice Western Biomedicine abroad. Applied medical anthropologists effectively serve as culture brokers acting between the culture of Western Biomedicine and the culture of different patient groups (Joralemon 2010:10).  This requires cultural competency.

 

Joralemon (2010) presented two international examples of applied medical anthropology that illustrate well the relevance of applied medical anthropology to the resolution of the health and healthcare problems in each of the cases.

 

In the "Nutrition Improvement Project" (Joralemon 2010:93-94), the applied medical anthropologists' work discovered the Indonesian mothers' tendency to feed their children from only one breast.  Indepdent of explanations for the one breast preference, this important discovery lead to the program's educational message of teaching the Indonesian mothers to feed from both breasts.  This was achieved with culturally appropriate dialogue and media programs.  Followup evaluation of the project one and a half year later showed that project household infants showed significantly better health indicator scores than non-project household infants.  The work of the applied medical anthropologists resolved the infant malnutrition healthcare problem, improved the health of the community's infants, and helped implemention of the program to achieve effective results.

 

In the UNAIDS AIDS prevention program in Zaire, the applied medical anthropologists' work educated the Zaire women on how reduce the risk of HIV transmission and how to negotiate with partners to use condoms (Joralemon 2010:94-95).  This was achieved with culturally appropriate workshops and role-play sessions.  Follow-up assessments of the program at six months showed positive increase in condom use.  Again, the work of the applied medical anthropologists contributed to the AIDS prevention healthcare problem, to improving the health of the community's sexually active population by reducing transmission risks, and to achieving effective results for the prevention program.

 

In Anne Fadiman's book, the lack of applied medical anthropology in Lia's case aggravated the cultural divide between her family and the Merced Western Biomedicine.  Even though Anne Fadiman called May Ying her cultural broker, May Ying's involvement was mostly one-sided, with the Lee family.  The social worker Jeanine Hilt tried to interact with both sides, but again, she sided mostly with the Lee family.  While it is difficult to predict what would have happened to Lia had the cultural differences been resolved, I highly suspect that applied medical anthropology would have at least allowed the Merced medical team to provide more effective healthcare for Lia.  In fact the closest example of applied medical anthropology I could find in Lia's story was her family's willingness to practice "a little medicine and a little neeb" (Fadiman 1997:110).  Although her family did not believe Lia was ill with epilepsy and did not investigate closely the Western Biomedicine given to Lia, they at least tried to compromise with the intention of getting effective care for Lia.  In retrospect, Anne Fadiman's book and research on the entire matter, including detailed interviews with both sides, is an example of applied medical anthropology.  Her book can certainly be read by medical practitioners as a means of understanding how to bridge cultural differences with patients with the goal of achieving effective medicine.