Department of Public Health, Preventive Medicine and Health Behavior Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, Walter Sisulu University, Mthatha 5117, South Africa.
Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Walter Sisulu University, Mthatha 5117, South Africa.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Oct 20;19(20):13597. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192013597.
Traditional health practitioners (THPs) are considered as the entry level of care in African societies and play an important role in the delivery of health services to the population. A phenomenological qualitative study was carried out among purposefully selected THPs in Mthatha to understand their roles and the challenges they face in providing maternal health services. The study included a focus group discussion with seven participants which yielded three themes and seven subthemes. The content analysis of descriptive data from the focus group discussion revealed threats posed by unregistered and counterfeit THPs to the lives of pregnant women in rural settings. The THPs' wide range of services allowed pregnant women to receive prenatal, antenatal, and postnatal care in proximity. However, this community level of care was marked by high levels of secrecy and counterfeit practitioners who used human body parts, which compromised the practice and rendered it unpopular. The South African government recommended the establishment of a register for THPs in order to protect the public, including the clarification of functional referral pathways between THPs and conventional health services.
传统医疗从业者（THP）被认为是非洲社会医疗保健的入门级别，在向民众提供医疗服务方面发挥着重要作用。本研究在 Mthatha 对有目的选择的 THP 进行了一项现象学定性研究，以了解他们的角色以及在提供孕产妇保健服务方面面临的挑战。该研究包括对 7 名参与者进行焦点小组讨论，讨论产生了 3 个主题和 7 个副主题。对焦点小组讨论中描述性数据的内容分析揭示了未注册和假冒 THP 对农村地区孕妇生命构成的威胁。THP 提供的广泛服务使孕妇能够在附近接受产前、产中和产后护理。然而，这种社区层面的护理以高度的保密性和假冒从业者为标志，他们使用人体部位，这损害了实践并使其不受欢迎。南非政府建议为 THP 建立一个登记册，以保护公众，包括澄清 THP 与传统医疗服务之间的功能转诊途径。
