Investigators: Charles Numrich, Co-Principal Investigator, Creative Theatre Unlimited, St. Paul, MN; Gregory Plotnikoff, M.D., Co-Principal Investigator, Center for Spirituality and Healing, University of Minnesota; Chu Yongyuan Wu, Co-Principal Investigator, Hmong Circle of Peace, St. Paul, MN; Phua Xiong, M.D., Cultural Consultant; Deu Yang, L.P.N., Cultural Consultant
Project Consultants: Linda L. Barnes, Ph.D., Director, Boston Healing Landscape Project, Boston University School of Medicine and Assistant Professor, Boston University School of Medicine;
Paul D. Numrich, M.D., Co-Principal Investigator of the Religion, Immigration and Civil Society in Chicago Project and Visiting Associate Research Professor, Loyola University, Chicago, IL
Funding Source and Amount Funded: UCare Minnesota, $52,130; In-kind and donated, $11,350
Grant Period: September 1999 to January 2002
Grant Period: The purpose of this study was to understand how Hmong shamanism is practiced in Minnesota's Hmong community. Who practices shamanism in Minnesota? How has shamanism affected the nature and scope of the changes in Minnesota's Hmong culture in the past 20 years? How do cultural attitudes, values, and uses of shamanism affect the choices and use of health care options in the Hmong community? To answer these questions, in-person, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 shamans and 32 Hmong people who participate in shaman's care and western health care. These interview techniques investigated patients' and practitioners' experiences, the interaction between Hmong patients and the shaman and their attitudes, ideas, and behaviors toward improving health and health care.
There are now more than 70,000 Hmong (Southeast Asian) refugees in the Minnesota. They participate in a variety of low-income programs including health care. Their acculturation and beliefs modulate their participation in health care. Because the shaman continues to play an important role in their interpretation of the world and their personal lives, it is important to understand how this relationship affects the Hmong patients' health care choices. By understanding these specific cultural adaptations and expressions, we are better able to collaborate and clarify the relationships between patients and health care providers. Knowing how shamanism influences Hmong personal and family life will also be very helpful for educators, social workers, health care providers and other professionals. This in-depth study has provided valuable information for educational programming available to health care professionals and religious organizations interested in the healing and spiritual nature of Hmong shamanism.
Published articles
Minnesota Medicine: Hmong Shamanism: Animist Spiritual Healing in Minnesota. June 2002
“Healing together.” St. Paul Pioneer Press. March 12, 2000
“Among the Hmong.” Bulletin of the Park Ridge Center, Sept./Oct. 2000
“Hmong shamanism in the United States.” Proceedings of the Eighteenth
Annual International conference on the Study of Shamanism and Alternative
Modes of Healing, September 1-3, 2001
“Hmong shamanism: animist spiritual healing in Minnesota.” Minnesota Medicine 85(6): 29-34
“Giving the best care: Hmong shamanism and Western medicine.” The Kiosk, University of Minnesota, September, 2002
“Shamans and conventional care: are we prepared?” 2002. Health Care Ethics Committee Forum, An Interprofessional Journal on Health Care Institutions’ Ethical and Legal Issues 14(3)
“Giving the best care: Hmong shamanism and Western medicine.” Asian American Press, October 25, 2002
“Familiarizing yourself with UCare Minnesota.” Hmong Times, November 16, 2002
“Listening skills: gifts from the Hmong.” Journal of Clinical Ethics 13(4)
"Care that Bridges Worlds," Healthplan, Journal of AAHP, July/Aug. 2003 “Hmong Shamanism: Animist Spiritual Healing in America's Urban Heartland,” Religious Healing in Urban America. New York: Oxford University Press (spring 2006)
The Minnesota Daily: Hmong blend traditions, new medicine. July 1, 2002, University of Minnesota
Kiosk: Giving the best care: Hmong shamanism and Western medicine. Summer, 2002, University of Minnesota
"Shamans and Conventional Care: Are We Prepared?" HEC Forum, 2002; 14 (3): 271-278.
Presentations
“Hmong Shamanism in America: The Medicine Healer,” White
House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy,
Minneapolis, MN, March, 2001
“Hmong Shamanism in Minnesota,” Religious Healing in Urban America Conference, Harvard University, September, 2001
“Spirituality and Healing,” Second Annual Healing Spirits Series, The
Friends of the St. Paul Public Library, St. Paul, MN, September 27, 2001
“New Immigrant Religions in U.S. Health Care,” Annual Conference of The
American Society of Bioethics and Humanities, Nashville, TN, October, 2001
“Hmong Shamanism and Hmong Health Care Choices,” Presentation for the
employees of UCare Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, June 2002
“Hmong Shamanism in Minnesota,” Theoretical Foundations and Experiential Learning in Complementary and Alternative Therapies Conference, Minneapolis, MN, July 2002
“UCare Minnesota’s Hmong Outreach Programs,” “Hmong Wameng,” KFAI-FM, Minneapolis, MN, October 1, 2002
“Hmong Shamanism in Minnesota,” Healthy Communities: Embracing Cultures, Changing Systems conference, Minneapolis, MN, November 2002
“Mini Health Professions School,” University of Minnesota, 2004
"Grand Rounds," St. Michael's Hospital, Stevens Point, WI, 2006