Research Helping People Live Healthier and Better Lives

Helping People Live Healthier and Better Lives
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Word Count: 850 Helping People Live Healthier and Better Lives
The role of ensuring that the society we live in is healthy does not only belong to medical doctors, but it is a collaboration of multidisciplinary professionals who work together to produce quality health outcomes for all (Campbell 2011). Medical anthropologists happen to be among the professionals who work diligently to help people live healthier and better lives. In this respect, contrary to what many people think, health is not only viewed from the clinical perspective, but also from the cultural aspect. In other words, medical anthropologists study health from a multi-dimensional angle. The work of anthropologists is to examine how culture contributes in the way diseases affect populations, how diseases are treated, and how they are prevented (Campbell 2011). In the modern world, medical can combine the science aspect of disease and the cultural facet of disease to help people live healthier and better lives.
Promoting an Integrated Perspective to Health
Medical anthropologists contribute greatly in making the lives of people healthier and better. They are responsible for bringing on the public health table an integrated approach to health (Campbell 2011). While medical doctors examine the intricate science behind diseases, medical anthropologists evaluate the cultural factors that influence diseases in the community. So, medical anthropologists play an important role in facilitating the combination of science and culture in improving the health of people. Through the contribution of medical anthropologists, illness is viewed from an integrated perspective. For example, while examining the prevalence level of cancer in the United States, doctors will primarily look into the scientific aspects of the disease while medical anthropologists will investigate the cultural aspects of cancer. Medical anthropologists will deeply examine why there are more African-Americans dying of cancer compared to the whites. For instance, research shows that most African-Americans, who are ethnic minorities, do not go through routine cancer screening compared to their white counterparts (Daniel, 2011). This is because of a cultural issue that is deeply rooted. Since most blacks in the U.S see themselves as being minorities, they are likely to take a back seat as far as cancer checkups are concerned.
Therefore, medical anthropologists are very important in researching the cultural aspects that make it difficult for people to live healthy lives. These professionals can help the minority communities overcome their cultural barriers and seek the medical services that are provided for them. This can be achieved by raising awareness on the importance of seeking medical services regard...