Comparing Health Care in a Quechua Community in Bolivia
Author Information
Author(s): Vandebroek Ina, Thomas Evert, Sanca Sabino, Van Damme Patrick, Puyvelde Luc Van, De Kimpe Norbert
Primary Institution: Institute of Economic Botany, The New York Botanical Garden
Hypothesis
What kind of health conditions are being treated by each health care system?
Conclusion
Traditional medicine in the study area is adaptive and complements biomedical health care for chronic illnesses and folk illnesses relevant to the local culture.
Supporting Evidence
- Traditional medicine overlaps with biomedical health care for respiratory infections, wounds, and fever.
- Chronic illnesses like arthritis are better addressed by traditional medicine.
- Patients prefer traditional medicine for folk illnesses relevant to their culture.
Takeaway
In a Bolivian community, people use both traditional medicine and modern health care to treat their illnesses, and they often overlap in the types of health problems they address.
Methodology
The study involved a secondary analysis of plant use data from interviews with traditional healers and diagnostic data from a community primary health care service.
Limitations
The study did not have patient data from healers and relied on indirect measures of health conditions based on plant use.
Participant Demographics
The community consists of around 2500 Quechua-speaking farmers, with a significant number of patients being children under five.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Want to read the original?
Access the complete publication on the publisher's website