Illness and the Healing Practices: A Study on Health Behaviour of the Elderly in Rural Bangladesh

Abstract

The present study was carried out with the aim of identifying the common health problems of the elderly and remedial measures adopted by them in rural areas of Ghior Upazila under Manikganj district in Bangladesh. The level of perception of illness and attitudes towards different healers and the existing healing practices in relation to elderly illness were also examined. A combination of multiple methods (methodological mixes) was applied to collect data to examine the various socio-cultural factors interacting with the health behaviour and the healing practices in the study area. At the time of survey nearly seventy three percent elderly had acute illness while about ninety percent elderly had chronic illness. Arthritis and back pain were highly prevalent among the respondents. Tuberculosis, problems with eye sights, paralysis, high blood pressure, cough and fever, gastric pain (stomach pain), diarrhoea, asthma and fever were the common diseases among the elderly. The elderly were found to use multiple health care therapeutic procedures simultaneously. It reflects the pluralistic medical care practiced by the people. It was also observed that people prefer different healers for different illness. This preference depends on the availability and reputation of healers, accessibility and perceived seriousness of the health problems. This is another form of pluralistic health care. The general practitioners also adopt different approaches from various systems of health care. Most of the cases people prefer modern medicine during illness but they cannot afford it due to inaccessibility to qualified doctor, their low purchasing capacity and improper behviour of hospital staff the study showed that a wide range of options of treatment was available for the rural people. The characteristics, availability and pattern of utilization of different systems of health care services by the rural elderly confirm the existence of pluralistic health care in Bangladesh.