Migration and mestizajes: concepts and debates for the theoretical approach to health in intercultural contexts

Abstract

Introduction: Nowadays, there is agreement on the need to generate an interdisciplinary dialogue on the social problems that cross different areas of health. Objective: this article aims to discuss the main concepts, conflicts and debates that shape the theoretical approach to health in intercultural contexts, considering that the transformation of societies through globalization puts into discussion in institutional spaces, the measures to be taken to face the new challenges in the care of the health / disease process. Methodology: Based on a review of scientific literature, the essay seeks to describe the main concepts underlying the relationship between health and culture and the challenges they impose on public health in Latin America, seeking to be a support tool for the teams that they approach migration, as well as for those who perceive the need to include the debate on culture in the fulfillment of their health purposes. Results: An approximation is made to the main concepts and theoretical developments arising from the emergence of culture in the health field, both to address the problems of indigenous peoples, as well as the new challenges posed by migrations. These debates are connected with the commitments assumed by public health. Conclusions: Miscegenation processes are translated today in the configuration of societies that are always more accustomed to a heterogeneous composition, marked by migratory processes and by the hybridization of practices and knowledge. “Indigenous” as that of indigenous peoples, with “allochthonous” practices and knowledge such as biomedicine itself. The consequences of this process present important challenges for the fulfillment of the essential functions of public health, in which it is preponderant to integrate the concepts and debates linked to culture, always and not only when faced with specific ethnic groups such as indigenous groups or migrant communities.