Ethnomedicine

Ethnomedicine is concerned with the definition and interpretation of health and illness in different cultures as well as with the resulting culture-specific remedies and methods of treatment.

Some authors Medical Anthropology is considered more appropriate term for this field of science, as these remain in the scheme, which identifies the object in the first part of word, in the second the discipline involved therein ( cf. economic anthropology, architecture, anthropology, legal anthropology ). The very common in the current literature the term " ethnomedicine " emphasizes the particularity within medicine ( with ethnological methods) to investigate and take action.

The ethno-medicine represents an interdisciplinary field that combines medicine and related sciences as well as humanities and social sciences such as anthropology, medicine, sociology and psychology. It deals with traditional medical systems in the cultural as well as comparison with the medical aid. The aim is to capture medical knowledge and practices in different cultures, to make cross-cultural and comparative studies and to preserve the cultural heritage of folk medicine in many countries of the world. Results of ethno- medical research can eg apply in dealing with patients from other cultures and in the conduct of medical projects in the Third World countries. The ethno-medicine may also serve as a background to reflect on their own understanding of medicine.

While at the universities in the English and French speaking countries, " Medical Anthropology " or " anthropology Medicale " has already been established for decades, until 1993 with the establishment of a department of ethno-medicine at the Institute for the History of Medicine at the University of Vienna 's first foray in German was made room.

In Germany, scientists from various disciplines at the initiative of the ethnologist Joachim Sterly 1970 in Hamburg have in the study group Ethno Medicine ( AGEM eV) for the promotion of the field, for publishing a scientific journal (formerly ethno-medicine, since 1978 curare ) joined forces and public relations by means of meetings.

In 1997, moreover, the Working Group Medical Anthropology founded the German Society of Ethnology, which has since been engaged in the research and teaching in German-speaking countries and expanding medical anthropological. The members of the working group to examine the health and medical - related phenomena on the basis of anthropological theories and methods, and have presented their research in a number of conferences and anthologies.

In the Medical Anthropology / Ethnomedicine following theoretical approaches can be distinguished:

• Critical Medical Anthropology (asking, global perspectives and the influence of power relations )
• Interpretive -constructivist approach (observing the social environment / social embedding of illness experiences )
• Ecological- biological approach ( asks about the influence of environmental conditions on disease)
• Applied Medical Anthropology / Ethnic Medicine (improving compliance ( employees ) of the patients in the treatment )