Using anthropology to analyse healthcare situations

An anthropological approach to caring has much to offer practising health workers, especially nurses. While its attitude towards knowledge differs from that used in much traditional medical and clinical education, its capacity to draw on the observations and life experiences of both carers and those cared for in the design of care plans can provide insights and information crucial to recovery and to an extended healthy life. This article models Claude Lévi-Strauss' structural anthropological method within nursing care situations.