Mitchell M F
West J Med. 1983 Dec;139(6):841-7.
Universally, popular medical concepts form the basis of lay understanding of health, disease and cure. In Jamaica these concepts first developed in association with traditional herbal medicine. Now they are applied to the most common forms of primary care: over-the-counter and prescribed drugs. Research findings suggest that where there is disagreement between popular and professional medical models, as is the case in Jamaica, the effect of popular concepts is to increase self-medication and reduce adherence to prescribed medical regimens. To ameliorate this situation and the attendant potential risks for drug consumers, methods for providing needed drug information and improving physician-patient communication are suggested. These suggestions apply not only to Jamaicans living in Jamaica and the United States, but also to members of any group whose ethnomedical concepts differ from the biomedical training of physicians.
普遍而言，流行的医学观念构成了外行对健康、疾病和治疗理解的基础。在牙买加，这些观念最初是与传统草药医学相关联发展起来的。如今，它们被应用于最常见的初级保健形式：非处方药和处方药。研究结果表明，在流行医学模式和专业医学模式存在分歧的地方，比如在牙买加，流行观念的影响是增加自我用药并降低对规定医疗方案的依从性。为改善这种情况以及随之给药物消费者带来的潜在风险，有人提出了提供所需药物信息和改善医患沟通的方法。这些建议不仅适用于生活在牙买加和美国的牙买加人，也适用于任何民族医学观念与医生的生物医学培训不同的群体成员。
