Faculty Collaboration Database

Use of Native American healers among Native American patients in an urban Native American health center. Arch Fam Med 1998;7(2):182-5

Date

03/31/1998

Pubmed ID

9519925

DOI

10.1001/archfami.7.2.182

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0032010964 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   80 Citations

Abstract

To gain an understanding of the prevalence, utilization patterns, and practice implications of the use of Native American healers together with the use of physicians, we conducted semistructured interviews at an urban Indian Health Service clinic in Milwaukee, Wisc, of a convenience sample of 150 patients at least 18 years old. The mean age of patients was 40 years, and the sex distribution was 68.7% women and 31.3% men. Thirty tribal affiliations were represented, the largest groups being Ojibwa (20.7%), Oneida (20.0%), Chippewa (11.3%), and Menominee (8.0%). We measured the number of patients seeing healers and gathered information on the types of healers, the ceremonies used for healing, the reasons for seeing healers, and whether patients discuss with their physicians their use of healers. We found that 38.0% of the patients see a healer, and of those who do not, 86.0% would consider seeing one in the future. Most patients report seeing a healer for spiritual reasons. The most frequently visited healers were herbalists, spiritual healers, and medicine men. Sweat lodge ceremonies, spiritual healing, and herbal remedies were the most common treatments. More than a third of the patients seeing healers received different advice from their physicians and healers. The patients rate their healer's advice higher than their physician's advice 61.4% of the time. Only 14.8% of the patients seeing healers tell their physician about their use. We conclude that physicians should be aware that their Native American patients may be using alternative forms of treatment, and they should open a respectful and culturally sensitive dialogue about this use with their patients.

Author List

Marbella AM, Harris MC, Diehr S, Ignace G, Ignace G

Author

Sabina Diehr MD Professor in the Family Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Community Health Centers
Culture
Female
Health Services, Indigenous
Humans
Indians, North American
Male
Medicine, Traditional
Middle Aged
Surveys and Questionnaires
United States
United States Indian Health Service
Urban Population
Wisconsin