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​​Multimorbidity has been framed as among the most pressing challenges facing health systems globally, exposing the limits of health systems organised around single diseases and organ-systems. Medical anthropologists have already contributed much to study of multimorbidity, particularly at the patient and service delivery level, but the discipline’s methods and translational strengths are also well-suited to explicating the wider epistemic (infra)structures that shape the ability of health systems to pivot from a single- to a multi-morbidity perspective. This seminar presents findings from a participatory ethnographic study that sought to holistically characterise multimorbidity from multiple perspectives across Zimbabwe’s health sector. It examines factors sustaining single-disease thinking, how differently-situated actors struggle to make multimorbidity known and ‘doable’ within current structures, and how the study’s collaborative engagements have provided a disease-neutral platform for pushing the conversation forward. 

More about Anthropology at LSHTM. 

Speaker

Justin Dixon, LSHTM

Justin Dixon PhD is Assistant Professor of Medical Anthropology at LSHTM, based at the Health Research Unit Zimbabwe (THRU ZIM). Justin’s research lies at the intersection of the anthropology of science and medicine, with an interest in the development of cross-disciplinary and mixed-methods research models. Working mostly in South Africa and Zimbabwe over the last 15 years, his research has been particularly concerned with the (bio-)politics of disease classification in global health and how this shapes the organisation and experience of medical research, training, and care in low-resource contexts. Justin’s main research focus currently is multimorbidity, where he is exploring the possibilities (and limitations) of this conceptual lens for reshaping single-disease paradigms and structures in global health.​ 

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