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Cited by 12Gastrointestinal motility and disordersCultural Competency in Health CareMigration, Identity, and Health

Uncertainty, culture and pathways to care in paediatric functional gastrointestinal disorders

Fortin, Sylvie, Gauthier, Annie, Gomez, Liliana, Faure, Christophe, Bibeau, Gilles, Rasquin, Andrée·2013·Anthropology & Medicine
DOI 10.1080/13648470.2013.853026
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Abstract

This paper examines how children and families of diverse ethnic backgrounds perceive, understand and treat symptoms related to functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs). It is questioned how different ways of dealing with medical uncertainty (symptoms, diagnosis) may influence treatment pathways. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 43 children of 38 family groups of immigrant and non-immigrant backgrounds. The analysis takes into account (a) the perceived symptoms; (b) the meaning attributed to them; and (c) the actions taken to relieve them. The social and cultural contexts that permeate these symptoms, meanings and actions were also examined. It is found that, in light of diagnostic and therapeutic uncertainty, non-immigrant families are more likely to consult health professionals. Immigrant families more readily rely upon home remedies, family support and, for some, religious beliefs to temper the uncertainty linked to abdominal pain. Furthermore, non-immigrant children lead a greater quest for legitimacy of their pain at home while most immigrant families place stomach aches in the range of normality. Intracultural variations nuance these findings, as well as family dynamics. It is concluded that different courses of action and family dynamics reveal that uncertainty is dealt with in multiple ways. Family support, the network, and trust in a child's expression of distress are key elements in order to tolerate uncertainty. Lastly, the medical encounter is described as a space permeated with relational uncertainty given the different registers of expression inherent within a cosmopolitan milieu. Narrative practices being an essential dynamic of this encounter, it is questioned whether families' voices are equally heard in these clinical spaces.

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  • Healthcare-seeking strategies are influenced by many factors including perception and experience of illness, seasonal variations, past experiences with healthcare services, family support and socioeconomic status.

    “As social science scholarship has aptly shown, healthcare-seeking strategies are influenced by many factors that include the perception and experience of illness, seasonal variations, past experiences with healthcare services, family support and socioeconomic status [72–74].”

    From Situating mobile health: a qualitative study of mHealth expectations in the rural health district of Nouna, Burkina Faso (2017) · cites this paper as [74]

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Authors
Fortin, S., Gauthier, A., Gomez, L., Faure, C., Bibeau, G., & Rasquin, A.
Affiliations
  • CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center (CA)
  • Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine (CA)
  • Université de Montréal (CA)
Corresponding author
Fortin, Sylvie
ORCID
Venue
Anthropology & Medicine
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
2013-11-15
Volume
20
Issue
3
Pages
311-323
ISSN
  • 1364-8470 (ISSN-L)
  • 1469-2910
DOI
10.1080/13648470.2013.853026
OpenAlex
W2011239378
Cited by
12
References
48
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2023: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 2 · 2014: 1
FWCI
0.94
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Anthropology and Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Institut national de la recherche scientifique
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Cultural Competency in Health Care
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Migration, Identity, and Health
Keywords
clinical uncertainty, immigrant families, ethnic diversity, abdominal pain, treatment pathways, home remedies, family support, religious beliefs, family dynamics, healthcare encounters, narrative practice, cosmopolitanism, care seeking
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Attitude to Health, Child, Culture, Ethnicity, Family, Female, Gastrointestinal Diseases, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Interviews as Topic, Male, Pain, Religion and Medicine, Self Care, Uncertainty, Emigrants and Immigrants

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