Western and traditional medicine: cultural beliefs and practices of South African Muslims with regard to Down syndrome.

The aim of the study was to investigate the beliefs and practices of caregivers and traditional healers within the South African Muslim community regarding Down syndrome. An exploratory-descriptive research design was utilized which incorporated individual interviews with 10 caregivers of persons with Down syndrome as well as 10 traditional healers from the South African Muslim community. Common beliefs emanating from both groups relating to the cause of Down syndrome included the notion that this condition was genetic in origin and that such children were perceived to be gifts from God. Others attributed Down syndrome to a punishment from God or the result of curses from people. Treatment included the use of inscriptions from the Quraan, water that had been prayed over and herbal medicines. Some caregivers seemed reluctant to approach western health care professionals due to negative past experiences. The main reasons for consulting traditional healers were cultural beliefs and pressure from family members, their holistic approach and the personal nature of their interventions. Collaboration between allopathic medicine and traditional healing was advocated by almost all of the traditional healers. These findings underline the need for culturally sensitive rehabilitation practices in speech-language pathology and audiology; and collaboration between western health care practitioners and traditional healers.