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Curanderismo: A Picture of Mexican-American Folk Healing

Author: Trotter, Robert T, PHD
Date Published: 2001


Curanderismo, from the Spanish verb curar, is a complex health tradition found in Mexican American communities throughout the United States. This tradition has a history that is shared with other Latin American cultures, while containing unique elements from Mexican history and Mexican American experience in the United States. Research on Mexican American folk medicine has produced a very high number of useful, insightful, and culturally competent healing strategies that range from proven herbal cures to therapeutic models and to identifying key cross-cultural problems when they are presented in medical clinics. The practices are dynamic and, while maintaining contact with the past, change to accommodate the present and future. This brief article discusses the historical background, healing practices, and examples of curanderismo.

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Number of Pages: 3