Metalogue on Coping with Illness: Cases from Ecuador

Abstract

The processes by which people cope with serious illness must be examined within family and sociocultural contexts. This article outlines a method for proceeding with such contextualized analysis. The method is illustrated with two case studies of family-based illness management in highland Ecuador. Both cases show the importance of culturally mediated, meaning-making responses in successful family adaptation to affliction and loss. Based on these field studies and on investigation of stress and coping in U.S. populations, two psychological mechanisms are proposed as central in constructive intrapsychic coping across cultures. These mechanisms are self-esteem and sense of participation in the outcome of the illness situation. Although this analysis concentrates on theory development by relating medical anthropology and health psychology, the case studies also have implications for health care delivery.