Chronic conditions, health, and well-being in global contexts: Occupational therapy in conversation with critical medical anthropology

Medical anthropologists know that our perspectives on chronic disease and illness provide much-needed critiques of the hegemony of biomedicine and insights into clinical applications. But can we make our voices heard and influence action in places where it makes a difference? For several decades a crisis in academic jobs for social scientists has meant that interdisciplinary and interprofessional initiatives may define some of the most important opportunities in medical anthropology for years to come (Inhorn 2007c). Despite its phenomenal growth and success relative to anthropology overall, the subfield of medical anthropology has not been immune from these challenging conditions. Medical anthropology has strong partnerships with public health, bioethics, and nursing. In this chapter, we sketch some foundations for a more concerted interface of medical anthropology with occupational therapy in scholarship, practice, and, importantly, professional developments.