title: Transdisciplinary Research on Cancer-Healing Systems Between Biomedicine and the Maya of Guatemala: A Tool for Reciprocal Reflexivity in a Multi-Epistemological Setting.
abstract: Transdisciplinarity (TD) is a participatory research approach in which actors from science and society work closely together. It offers means for promoting knowledge integration and finding solutions to complex societal problems, and can be applied within a multiplicity of epistemic systems. We conducted a TD process from 2011 to 2014 between indigenous Mayan medical specialists from Guatemala and Western biomedical physicians and scientists to study cancer. Given the immense cultural gap between the partners, it was necessary to develop new methods to overcome biases induced by ethnocentric behaviors and power differentials. This article describes this intercultural cooperation and presents a method of reciprocal reflexivity (Bidirectional Emic-Etic tool) developed to overcome them. As a result of application, researchers observed successful knowledge integration at the epistemic level, the social-organizational level, and the communicative level throughout the study. This approach may prove beneficial to others engaged in facilitating participatory health research in complex intercultural settings.
authors.affiliation: ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland monica.berger@env.ethz.ch kawoq13@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mónica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Berger-González
authors.affiliation: ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stauffacher
authors.affiliation: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jakob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zinsstag
authors.affiliation: Singapore-ETH Centre, Singapore.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.affiliation: ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Pius
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Krütli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel / Q000208:ethnology; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D006166:Guatemala; D006694:Holistic Health; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D007391:International Cooperation; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D019359:Knowledge; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States
keywords: Cancer; Guatemala; Maya; cultural competence; epistemology; multiculturalism; reflexivity; transdisciplinary research