Abstract

CARDONA ARIAS, Jaiberth Antonio  and  RIVERA PALOMINO, Yennifer. Social representations about traditional medicine and foreign diseases in EmberaChami natives in Colombia. Rev Cubana Salud Pública [online]. 2012, vol.38, n.3, pp. 471-483. ISSN 0864-3466.

Introduction: the promotion of interculturalism in health has been hampered by ignorance of the particularities of indigenous medical systems. Foreign diseases are one of the cases which show the need of integrating the traditional and the Western medicine. Objective: to understand the social representations of traditional medicine and foreign diseases in EmberaChami natives in Colombia, 2011. Methods: twenty two natives were selected through sampling. Interviews were made for open, axial and selective coding, field records and participant and non-participant observation. The criteria of credibility, auditability, transferability and saturation of categories were applied. Data was gathered and analyzed from August 2010 to July 2011. The ethical principles for research in the health field were respected. Results: social representations about the traditional medical system EmberaChami and foreign diseases were presented; a matrix of significance based on the Pacha Mama and Cosmogony, Cosmovision and Theory of the three worlds was prepared as well. The traditional medical system consists of the cultural heritage, the territory and sovereignty, and the therapeutic resources. The health-disease process is conceived as the harmony of the psychical, mental, spiritual, social, environmental and physical-biological dimensions. The latter comprises the conceptions and management of foreign diseases. Conclusion: this study allowed us to address aspects of the native symbolic universe that enhance intercultural health, promote the holistic approach of foreign diseases and enable the contextualized use of traditional knowledge based on the cosmology, social structure and rituals of the EmberaChami communities.

Keywords : Traditional medicine; diseases; natives; Colombia.

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