Carole E. Hill

Transfer of Information Technology to the Arab World: A Test of Cultural Influence Modeling

The complex societal beliefs and values of the Arab world provide a rich setting to examine the hypothesized influence of culture on information technology transfer (ITT). Two research questions arise in this context: (1) Do cultural beliefs and values affect the transference of information technology in the Arab world? and (2) Does contact with technologically advanced societies impact ITT and systems outcomes? The present study addresses these research questions by conceptualizing and testing a cultural influence model of ITT. In this model, cultural beliefs and values are one major construct while a counterbalancing variable is the external influence of technologically advanced societies. These constructs along with the variable “national IT development†form the conceptual basis for the model. This study is the second part of a program of research investigating ITT. The setting of the study was Arab society, which allowed us to test our “cultural influence†model in, perhaps, one of the more complex cultural and social systems in the world. The program of research took place in several phases. In the early phases, Arab-American businessmen and women as well as Arabs studying in American universities were studied. In the latter phases, the cross-disciplinary research team gathered primary data in the Arab cultures of Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and the Sudan. Both quantitative and qualitative techniques were used to explore the phenomenon of ITT. This paper reports quantitative findings from the latter phase. Findings suggest that the model has explanatory power. Arab cultural beliefs were a very strong predictor of resistance to systems and thus ITT; technological culturation was also a factor. These results have implications for future theory-testing and for technology policy-setting by responsible Arab leaders. Additionally, there are implications for transnational firms and managers charged with introducing IT in foreign ports, subsidiaries, offices, and plants.

Local knowledge and rural mental health reform

Rural mental health care reform has failed to recognize that service utilization and access is guided by the meaning and explanations that rural dwellers ascribe to symptoms and treatments for mental illness. These meanings and explanations are described here as local knowledge. It is argued that planning for reform in rural mental health service delivery must take into account the local knowledge and explanations for mental illness and its treatment in order to improve rural metnal health.

The Unity of Theory and Practice in Anthropology: Rebuilding A Fractured Synthesis

DESCRIPTION NAPA Bulletin is a peer reviewed occasional publication of the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology, dedicated to the practical problem-solving and policy applications of anthropological knowledge and methods. • peer reviewed publication of the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology • dedicated to the practical problem-solving and policy applications of anthropological knowledge and methods • most editions available for course adoption

local Health knowledge and universal primary health care: A behavioral case from Costa Rica

This paper describes a group of rural people living in 2 communities in the Atlantic lowlands of Costa Rica and the health options available to them namely health posts clinics and hospital services private physicians and the traditional health system (bush medicine). The health posts are part of a comprehensive rural health program initiated by the Ministry of Health to offer basic health services to communities. The major barriers to the functioning of the PHC program are administrative: poor transportation scheduling and lack of personnel. People said their reason for not using the health posts is lack of confidence in their reliability. The peoples perspective about the solution to the problems of the health care system demonstrates some understanding of their own problems. The most frequently suggested change in the system is to have a permanent physician in the communities followed by the suggestion to have a permanent nurse and more medicines at the health post. All their suggestions involve the health post the most underutilized health resource in the community. Other suggestions involve the community level and the overall health delivery system and general improvement of living especially economic conditions. Health seeking strategies demonstrate a utilization patterns are: perceived seriousness of the illness; cost of services and methods of payment; perceived efficacy of the provider and treatment; accessibility and transportation. Consultations with family and friends praying and using bush medicines were reported for almost all illness episodes. The people of the 2 communities are active participants in their health care and in the health care system. The majority assume that there are limited health resources and that they must utilize all the alternatives. Preventive medicine is practiced by most of the people by keeping the body in balance through proper use of diet drinking bush teas avoiding certain behaviors and/or situations and using doctors medicines. The major factors that motivate their health seeking behavior are based on a combination of bush and Western knowledge in a pragmatic framework. There is a negotiation process between bush and scientific medicine in the cognitive processes of the people. A participatory model for PHC in which the micro and macro systems become interdependent is suggested. Health planners should ask whether the program will have access to people an answer to which is possible through knowledge of the culture i.e. the clients perspective. The planner should also pay attention to the factors that motivate people to seek health care and policies should involve community people in the planning process. Local participation in PHC is crucial in integrating the various levels in the health system. PHC must begin at the local level and with community involvement in planning. The specifics of the policies and plans however must be left open to negotiation depending on the culture and structure of the involved communities.

The challenge of comparative health policy research for applied medical anthropology

In this paper I argue that medical anthropologists can work in settings outside of academia to effect policy and that this work can simultaneously contribute to scientific knowledge and to the discipline of anthropology. In doing this, I first discuss the concept of policy and bind these ideas within the framework of health policy. Then I discuss the roles of anthropologists in the health policy field and the problems of selecting issues for research and the concern about the dichotomy between pure and applied research. Finally, I review some key health policy issues in American society and discuss how medical anthropologists can work toward practicing their craft in practical ways.