Provides demographic and cultural background on the Mien community in Seattle, Washington, focusing on its experience gaining access to health care services. Part of a series of profiles of underserved ethnic communities developed by the Seattle-based Cross Cultural Health Care Program, this survey is intended to help health care providers offer culturally appropriate care. Written by and in consultation with members of Seattle’s Mien community, this profile contains background information about the Mien people, including their origins in China, livelihood in other Asian countries, and opposition to the Pathet Lao, which made it unsafe from them to remain in Laos; the worship of ancestors and spirits; the size and ages of the Mien refugee population in the Seattle area; family life and community organizations; traditional health care practices that rely on Chinese herbal medicine; social customs concerning maternal and child health; attitudes toward medical care, including the belief that untreatable illness and mental illness are the work of evil spirits; and barriers to receiving medical care, including fear of hospitals, lack of English, and insufficient finances and health insurance. Also contains suggestions that health care professionals can follow to work more effectively with their Mien patients.
