Western worms! Explication of aspects of health care behavior among Chamorro with HIV/AIDS.

By means of critical ethnography with a focus on historical dimensions, this article delineates the ways Chamorro with HIV/AIDS negotiate interaction with Western health staff. This effort targets a largely unstudied and disenfranchised population of a U.S. territory (Guam) through qualitative methods. Results indicate that (a) foundational historical patterns inform covert behaviors, that is, the longstanding colonization of Chamorro culture has implications for communication, and (b) the residual influence of the investigation of lytico-bodig affects conceptualization and discussion of disease. At the same time, historically grounded forms such as the use of healers offer clients culturally sanctioned means of resistance to hegemonic medical structures. Findings have implications for nursing practice in the clinical setting.