Abstract
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.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Alleyne S. I., Morrison E. Y., Richards R. R. Some social factors related to control of diabetes mellitus in adult Jamaican patients. Diabetes Care. 1979 Sep-Oct;2(5):401–408. doi: 10.2337/diacare.2.5.401. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Florey C. du V., McDonald H., McDonald J., Miall W. E. The prevalence of diabetes in a rural population of Jamaican adults. Int J Epidemiol. 1972 Summer;1(2):157–166. doi: 10.1093/ije/1.2.157. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Harwood A. The hot-cold theory of disease. Implications for treatment of Puerto Rican patients. JAMA. 1971 May 17;216(7):1153–1158. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]