The disciplines of anthropology, linguistics and medicine are brought together in this exploration of changing health care beliefs and practices in Newfoundland. Dr. Raoul Andersen, Anthropology, Dr. John Crellin, Medicine, and Dr. Bernie O'Dwyer, English, set out to listen to older people and let them speak for themselves. From these recollections, the authors analyze the values and meaning which influence maintaining health and treating illness. We identified what they themselves see as their values. Thirty interviews with men and women from 62 to 92 years of age were done for this book, covering many occupations and communities in the province.
Common opinions emerge, such as the value of a simple diet and constant physical exercise.
One man from the Southern Shore recalls porridge for breakfast with nutmeg on it, followed by a dose of cod liver oil. A woman from St. John's recalls that people did so much walking that they didn't have to exercise. The major illness was tuberculosis. Some people interviewed for this book questioned the long treatment at the Sanatorium, even suggesting that wild cherry bark as a self-treatment was a better answer. One man's opinion was that many of the people who died of tuberculosis were really dying of starvation.