A comparative study of health beliefs and practices of traditional and professional healers in the Province of Iloilo

Abstract

The participation of traditional healers in community health care is a fact that has attracted scholars and researchers. Studies have shown that it is practiced nation-wide. In the province of Iloilo alone, assuming that there is one or two in each barangay, there would be about 2,000 traditional healers. There are about 509 professional healers to the estimated population of 1,387,000.11. The figures just presented give a clear picture of the inadequacy of professional health personnel in communities. The present study intends to gather data about the health beliefs and practices of both traditional and professional healers in the province of Iloilo and to compare these to the end that appropriate plans could be made to improve the delivery of health care in Iloilo by way of integrating traditional healers in the over-all health care system. More specifically, the study aims to seek answers to the following questions: 1. What are the demographic characteristics of the professional and of the traditional healers as to age, sex and religion? 2. Do the professional healers significantly differ from the traditional healers in terms of their demographic characteristics? 3. What are the health beliefs of the traditional and professional healers regarding assessment and diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of common illnesses? 4. Are there significant differences between the health beliefs of the traditional and these of professional healers regarding assessment and diagnosis treatment and follow-up of common illnesses? 5. Is the healers' age related to the degree of their reliance on a particular health belief item? 6. Are the healers' health beliefs influenced by their sex? 7. Are the healers' health beliefs influenced by their religion?