亚历山大Rödlach，博士，圣言会

在他受戒之后, Rödlach的任务是在布拉瓦约附近建立一个新教区, 津巴布韦的一个城市中心. 他学过神学，还学过一门当地语言, 但他的工具箱里还是少了点东西. Pastors immersed in a culture different from their own need ways to help them understand that culture, 他意识到. 人类学, 他解释说, 训练你观察和分析,” and pastors who learn those skills can tailor their ministry to the people they serve.

The unique perspective that anthropology provides to missionaries and pastors, 他发现, 对任何从事医疗保健的人来说也是关键吗. 这就是为什么Rödlach有了医学人类学, 这似乎是对他天生好奇心的补充, 同情和信仰. 每一个项目都是由一个深刻的问题引导的 我所做的对减轻人类的痛苦是有益的?” For him, it’s about examining what happens at the intersection of faith, health and culture. “I am interested in health and healing, and I am a priest,” he says. “对我来说，这就结束了.”

文化与社区

After completing his training in medical anthropology in the U.S., Rödlach returned to Zimbabwe to tackle one of the complications he’d observed. When deeply ingrained cultural attitudes confront modern health challenges, 有些东西在翻译中丢失了. He worked closely with a local administrator in the public health system to research how cultural perceptions of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis affected patients’ responses to services. His findings corrected some of the false assumptions of program directors. They changed their practices accordingly, helping more patients get treatment. 虽然在某些方面他是个局外人, he had observed the culture and worked with insiders to ensure a response that was both effective and empathetic.

在奥马哈, Rödlach trained his research lens onto a rather unassuming health care environment: faith community nursing. A colleague told him about a group of nurses and other volunteers that provided free health care for those in need in the evenings at its downtown church. Rödlach想知道这些志愿者, 在非正式的环境中工作，资源很少, 真的会有影响吗.

通过CHI Health的资助, Rödlach surprised himself when 他发现 that these services indeed had an impact on the physical and social health of participants. Services like free blood pressure screenings alerted individuals to health issues that otherwise might have gone undetected – saving money on ER visits, 节省了在医院的时间, 允许早期治疗, 带来更好的健康结果. One theme that emerged through the project was the importance of community – when people participated in health activities as an extension of their faith community, they were motivated to hold each other accountable and to support each other. 

为了他人并与他人一起

对于Rödlach来说，社区是他所有研究的一部分. “I don’t just cook up something in my office and say, I want to study this,” he emphasizes. “Rather, I join a community and we partner, we develop a project together.” Anthropologists call this “participatory action research” – wherein researchers and community members bring their respective skills and expertise together for the betterment of all.

In one example, a pastor from Lexington in rural Nebraska called Rödlach on the phone. 当肉类加工业在镇上开设工厂时, immigrants and refugees moved to the area to fill many of the job openings. Suddenly, the demographics of the once-homogeneous small town changed. In this unprecedented climate, the pastor wondered, how should we plan for our church’s future? Rödlach，他的同事Rev. 伦佐·罗萨莱斯, SJ, and a team of 10 undergraduate students went to Lexington and stayed with families to learn about their community and conduct extensive interviews. The research yielded answers that were equally challenging and simple: In sum, the parish should focus on building a community with their new neighbors before trying to plan what services the parish might provide in the future.

Rödlach’s work shows that empathy and compassion can complement scholarly rigor. 在本地, 他继续和克伦尼人一起研究, 来自缅甸的难民, 其中一些人被重新安置在奥马哈. 他采用了同样的参与式行动研究方法, working closely with community members to understand their values, 担忧与希望. His latest research aims to identify ways in which social factors predict successful resettlement for refugees.

能力和同情心

From urban Zimbabwe to rural Nebraska, how do anthropologists engage with such different cultures? Rödlach stresses the importance of cultural competence – individuals “can never know about every culture, but we can learn skills that help us deal with similarities and differences” within and among cultures. 事实上, Rödlach最近与人合写了一份针对传教士的出版物, 像他这样的, have found themselves immersed in a new culture for the first time and in need of guidance.

Still, Rödlach says his main goal is not to speak primarily to his peers. It’s about making anthropology part of the conversation about alternatives in health care, 教育与政治. 它正在使医疗政策变得更好. 这包括教育下一代. 与学生一起工作是他事工的一部分, too: “If we can show students that we are part of something larger than ourselves, 我们的选择不是一维的, 我们帮助学生成为更好的全球公民.”

了解更多

了解更多关于Rödlach的学术背景在他的 专家简介.

探索 医学人类学专业 或卫生保健文化能力证书.