Poster Presentations (Group II)

Reducing or eliminating health disparities is a national initiative in both Chile and the United States. Frequently these initiatives do not adequately address cultural factors. Beliefs about health and well being, in all its many aspects, are influenced by the cultural context in which a person is raised and lives. Culture influences how a person’s belief system, their habits and customs, their perceptions of well being and illness, and their choices in seeking and providing care are constructed.  In this poster session, research findings from studies of the Pehuenche who live in the Andes Mountains, the Mapuche of Chile’s Central Valley and the Lafkenche of the Chilean coast will be presented alongside research conducted with Hmong mental health providers working in Minnesota. Focusing on this research of three indigenous groups in Chile and the experiences of Hmong mental health providers working in Minnesota, this poster presentation will present findings on cultural beliefs and practices of well being and illness as well as implications for health care systems. The communities that are the focus of this research are both culturally diverse from the dominant cultural groups in Chile and in North America and they have either been displaced internally within their native land or have come to the United States as refugees. The research studies with indigenous peoples in Chile were conducted by Dr. Claudio Gonzales and Dr. Jeanne Simon from the Universidad de Concepcion.  Research findings from a phenomenological study conducted with Hmong mental health providers in Minnesota will be presented by Dr. Linda Gensheimer from St. Cloud State University.