Pluralistic care and therapeutic itineraries among a migrant tribal community in an eastern Indian city

Journal article

In medical pluralism, issues of the selective use of one sort of healer over another and what makes people opt for a specific source of health care are important. In this article, we discuss the availability of different health-care alternatives, the conditions that lead the health-care seeker to choose them and ‘therapeutic itineraries' among a migrant tribal community living in an eastern Indian city. A mixed methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative research techniques, was adopted. Different sources of health care, conditions of illnesses for which people sought treatment and treatment-seeking behaviour in relation some common illnesses are examined. The source of treatment depends upon the type of illness, its symptoms and perceived severity. The reasons for pluralistic care-seeking are the failure of modern medicines and the perceived causes of illness. This has created dilemmas for people and often led to pluralistic care, which is sometimes pragmatic.

Authors: Mishra, S; Kusuma, YS; Babu, BB

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Anthropological Society of Oxford
• Journal: Journal of the Anthropological Society of Oxford Online
• Volume: 6
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 61-78
• Publication date: 2014-01-01
• DOI: 10.5287/ora-yj8pw29ag
• ISSN: 2040-1876
• Language: English
• Keywords: India; acculturation; medical pluralism; migration; JASO; aboriginals