A cross-sectional study of mutual perceptions between conventional and traditional caregivers in the Democratic Republic of Congo: a step towards integrative medicine

IF 1.9 4区医学 Q3 INTEGRATIVE & COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE

European Journal of Integrative Medicine Pub Date : 2025-04-11 DOI:10.1016/j.eujim.2025.102480

Cedrick S. Mutombo , Salvius A. Bakari , Vianney N. Ntabaza , Amandine Nachtergael , Jean-Baptiste S. Lumbu , Pierre Duez , Joh B. Kahumba

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Introduction

Although the Democratic Republic of Congo has been engaged for several years in the process of integrating traditional medicine (TM) into the official health system, to date, no study has reported on the interactions between caregivers from conventional medicine (CM) and TM. And so, the present work explores the perception of TM by CM caregivers, their collaboration with traditional healers (THs), and the opinions of caregivers of these two medicines on the integration of THs into CM structures.

Methods

Two semi-structured interview surveys were carried out between January 2018 and June 2019, among CM caregivers and THs in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Results

A total of 970 CM caregivers and 116 THs took part. More than 50.0 % of surveyed CM caregivers resorted to TM for various diseases and 78.7 % experienced treatment success. More than 80.0 % of THs wish to collaborate with CM caregivers and about 60.0 % of CM caregivers wish to collaborate with THs. Also, 30.5 % of CM caregivers desire the integration of THs in CM structures, while 77.6 % of THs want to work in said structures; moreover, 36.2 % and 16.0 % of TM and CM caregivers, respectively, mentioned having already experienced collaboration with traditional healers and their integration into CM structures.

Conclusion

There are some positive, and somewhat encouraging, interactions between TM and CM caregivers in Lubumbashi. The integration of TM knowledge in CM caregiver training courses, the generation and dissemination of data supporting the uses of traditional products and practices, as well as the development of mutual awareness and respect of caregivers in the two sectors are necessary actions to attain integrative medicine.

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刚果民主共和国传统和传统护理人员相互认知的横断面研究：迈向综合医学的一步

虽然刚果民主共和国多年来一直致力于将传统医学纳入官方卫生系统，但迄今为止，还没有关于传统医学护理人员与传统医学之间相互作用的研究报告。因此，本研究探讨了中医护理人员对中医的看法，他们与传统治疗师（THs）的合作，以及这两种药物的护理人员对中医结构整合的看法。方法2018年1月至2019年6月，在刚果民主共和国卢本巴希市对CM护理人员和THs进行了两次半结构化访谈调查。结果共970名CM护理员和116名th参与调查。超过50.0%的被调查的中医护理人员对各种疾病采用中医治疗，78.7%的人治疗成功。超过80.0%的中医希望与中医护理人员合作，约60.0%的中医护理人员希望与中医合作。此外，30.5%的中医护理人员希望将中医整合到中医结构中，而77.6%的中医希望在上述结构中工作；此外，36.2%的传统医学和16.0%的传统医学护理人员分别提到已经与传统治疗师合作并将其融入传统医学结构。结论卢本巴希地区中西医结合护理人员之间存在着积极的、令人鼓舞的互动关系。将传统医学知识整合到中医护理人员培训课程中，生成和传播支持传统产品和实践使用的数据，以及发展两个部门护理人员的相互意识和尊重，是实现中西医结合的必要行动。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

European Journal of Integrative Medicine INTEGRATIVE & COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE-

CiteScore

4.70

自引率

4.00%

发文量

102

审稿时长

33 days

期刊介绍： The European Journal of Integrative Medicine (EuJIM) considers manuscripts from a wide range of complementary and integrative health care disciplines, with a particular focus on whole systems approaches, public health, self management and traditional medical systems. The journal strives to connect conventional medicine and evidence based complementary medicine. We encourage submissions reporting research with relevance for integrative clinical practice and interprofessional education. EuJIM aims to be of interest to both conventional and integrative audiences, including healthcare practitioners, researchers, health care organisations, educationalists, and all those who seek objective and critical information on integrative medicine. To achieve this aim EuJIM provides an innovative international and interdisciplinary platform linking researchers and clinicians. The journal focuses primarily on original research articles including systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials, other clinical studies, qualitative, observational and epidemiological studies. In addition we welcome short reviews, opinion articles and contributions relating to health services and policy, health economics and psychology.