Wellness Beyond Words: Maya Compositions of Speech and Silence in Medical Care

The delivery of health care can present a minefield of communication problems, particularly in cross-cultural settings where patients and health practitioners come from dissimilar cultures and speak different languages. Responding to the need for in-depth ethnographic studies in cultural and communicative competence, this anthropological account of Maya language use in health care in highland Guatemala explores some of the cultural and linguistic factors that can complicate communication in...