Exploring Hmong Shamans' Beliefs on Cancer

Cancer incidence among Hmong Americans has increased significantly since the early 2000s. Familiarity with and understanding of the disease is low due to limited exposure in countries of origin, lack of terminology, reliance on shamanic healing practices, and restricted access to screening. Health and healing within Hmong culture have been the domain of shamans, whose practices focus on spiritual rather than physical ailments. To understand how Hmong shamans conceptualize cancer, this study explores their beliefs, experiences, and views on collaborating with allopathic practitioners to care for patients.

Fifteen Hmong shamans in the United States, Thailand, and Laos participated in semi-structured, in-depth interviews conducted in person or by phone. Interviews were analyzed using inductive and deductive thematic analysis.

Four themes emerged from the thematic analysis: beliefs about cancer's existence prior to resettlement, understandings of cancer causation, experiences with diagnosis and treating cancer patients, and perspectives on collaboration with allopathic health practitioners.

The findings show that Hmong shamans attribute cancer to both spiritual and physical causes. While their views differ on the historical presence of cancer, there is general receptiveness to collaboration with allopathic practitioners. Future research should examine how culturally grounded models of collaboration between shamans and allopathic practitioners can be developed to improve cancer care within Hmong communities.