Diaspora and Health? Traditional Medicine and Culture in a Mexican Migrant Community

As members of the Mexican diaspora acculturate ⁄ assimilate to life in the United States they gain skills that help them improve their socioeconomic status and overcome barriers to the mainstream American healthcare system. Thus, we might expect better health among more acculturated Mexicans. However, most of the research conducted during the past 20 years shows that the health of Mexicans living in the United States deteriorates as acculturation increases. This suggests that certain health promoting aspects of Mexican culture are lost as migrants adapt to and adopt American ways of life. This paper is the first step in testing the hypothesis that declining health among acculturated people of Mexican descent is related to a loss of traditional medical knowledge. During an ethnographic study of women’s medical knowledge in an unacculturated Mexican migrant community in Athens, Georgia, I observed many ways low-income, undocumented migrants maintain good health. Migrant women encourage health-promoting behaviors and treat sick family members with a variety of home remedies that appear to be effective according to chemical and pharmacological analyses. Additionally, migrant women in Athens learn how to navigate the American medical and social service systems and overcome barriers to professional healthcare services using information provided through social networks. Nevertheless, migrant women often prefer to treat sick family at home and indicated a preference for Mexican folk medicines over professional medical care in most situations. This case study suggests that migration and diaspora need not always lead to disease. The maintenance of a Mexican culture that is distinct from the rest of American society helps ensure that traditional medical knowledge is * Department of Anthropology, University of Kent. 2008 The Author Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd., Journal Compilation 2008 IOM 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK, International Migration Vol. 46 (5) 2008 and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. ISSN 0020-7985 doi:10.1111/j.1468-2435.2008.00490.x