Ethnomethodological Approach and Theatre Shares New Knowledge about Immigrant Experience with the People

Advance book previews
Contributor quotes.....

Carolina Gonzalez-Schlenker MD MPH
with Gloria E. Sarto MD Ph.D.

"The participants of Saber para la Gente (Knowledge for the People) were immigrants experiencing the erosion of traditional roles as part of their acculturation process to the U.S. This erosion evolved without their full awareness yet created an underlying level of uncertainty that when exacerbated by alienating circumstances triggered behaviors that put their health at risk. They were losing their nosotros, the common sense that gave meaning to their face to face daily activities, yet, they continued functioning under those circumstances, leaving untapped capacities to create new meaning. An ethnomethodological approach to inquiry allowed the study to reach the community at this meaning making level. Theatre provided the space-time for critical awareness where participants were able to reinterpret their context and redirect their behaviours. The conscious creation of certainty and trust at the micro-level of face to face interactions could prove to be an important vehicle to prevent health disparities."

(look for the full article in the upcoming book, "Creative Arts in Research for Community and Cultural Change")



Carolina Gonzalez Schlenker MD MPH has worked for many years as a health advocate for Latinos and was co-founder and first President of the Latino Health Organization in 1994. She has worked in community medicine in the highlands of Chiapas in Tojolabal Mayan Indian communities training health promoters and practicing primary care. She has a Master in Public Health with a concentration on quality of care. She is currently a post doctoral fellow, health disparities at The Centre for Women's Health Research of University of Wisconsin- Madison.

Gloria E. Sarto MD PhD is a Professor at The University of Wisconsin Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and past Co-Director of the UW Center for Women's Health Research and was the first woman to be appointed President of The American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society. She has been a local and national leader to raise awareness about health disparities and was part of the editorial board of "Unequal Treatment," a publication of The Institute of Medicine presenting evidence of the inequity that minorities face in health care settings.