Self-care and self-medication practices in two California Mexican communities: Migrant farm worker families and border residents in San Diego County

Abstract

Although medical anthropologists have recently taken up the study of medication use in both developing and developed nations, the medication practices of immigrants remain unstudied. The current research reports on self-medication practices among two California Mexican immigrant communities: immigrant families living along the California-Mexico border, and migrant farm worker families residing in illegal encampments and substandard housing in San Diego's North County. Medication and health seeking practices are found to be influenced by both political-economic forces, and the sociocultural context in which California Mexicans live. The U.S.-Mexico border area is considered as a special context for self-medication, since it permits border-crossing into Tijuana for the purpose of buying Mexican pharmaceuticals at low cost without a prescription. The popularity of injections and the cross-border purchasing of injectable antibiotics and vitamins are discussed as a case study.