The Spirit Catches You and You Fall by Anne Fadiman their migration. in America. As entertaining as the novel is from a literary perspective, the novel describes many deeply insightful attributes of the American health care system and the field of social work of this period. Although this novel describes one people's immigration journey to America, this story is really about the experiences of many migrant populations in the United States. As a social worker, I felt uncomfortable each time the book discussed times when a member of the health care profession, including social work professionals of the time, attempted to speak to Lee in English, clearly understanding that they did not master the language and were not able to understand what was happening to their child. I was also uncomfortable. I was barely six pages into the novel when I faced my first ethical dilemma regarding the health and social work services rendered to the Lees. The Lees were asked to sign documents in English even though everyone at the hospital knew they did not speak English and were unable to determine the level of English that Mr. or Mrs. Lee could read or write. Although there was no specific federal law in 1982 on cultural competency when Lia Lee was born at MCMC Hospital, the hospital was aware of the need for Hmong language translators at its hospital. MCMC stated in the novel that they attempted to hire Hmong staff, such as janitors, to translate on occasion, which in itself is against the social works code.

Essay / The Spirit Catches You and You Fall by Anne Fadiman their migration. in America. As entertaining as the novel is from a literary perspective, the novel describes many deeply insightful attributes of the American health care system and the field of social work of this period. Although this novel describes one people's immigration journey to America, this story is really about the experiences of many migrant populations in the United States. As a social worker, I felt uncomfortable each time the book discussed times when a member of the health care profession, including social work professionals of the time, attempted to speak to Lee in English, clearly understanding that they did not master the language and were not able to understand what was happening to their child. I was also uncomfortable. I was barely six pages into the novel when I faced my first ethical dilemma regarding the health and social work services rendered to the Lees. The Lees were asked to sign documents in English even though everyone at the hospital knew they did not speak English and were unable to determine the level of English that Mr. or Mrs. Lee could read or write. Although there was no specific federal law in 1982 on cultural competency when Lia Lee was born at MCMC Hospital, the hospital was aware of the need for Hmong language translators at its hospital. MCMC stated in the novel that they attempted to hire Hmong staff, such as janitors, to translate on occasion, which in itself is against the social works code.

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