The Asian Hmong (pronounced “mung”) culture is agrarian, with religious beliefs based in animism. The Hmong in the U.S. came mainly from Laos as refugees after the Vietnam War. The language is a great barrier, particularly to the elderly, because there was originally no written form. A writing system has been developed but is difficult for both Hmong and English speaking people.

The Hmong have a holistic approach to healing; they heal the soul first, then heal the body. Thus, they have a great mistrust of western medicine which ignores the spiritual aspect of illness. The faith practices of the Hmong people persist even though they may seek western medicine.

These conflicting cultures are tragically illustrated in the story of Lia Lee, a Hmong girl who developed a severe form of epilepsy as an infant. Although Lia had many seizures witnessed by her parents, they did not seek western medical care until she had a violent seizure at three months of age. (See next slide).