Health maintenance and low socio-economic status: A family perspective

The socio-economic status of people has a profound influence on health, as higher rates ofmorbidity and mortality are reported for individuals with lower socio-economic status. Dueto the increased burden of disease, research exploring how families maintain their health ina low socio-economic situation is an urgent priority. The objective of the study was to gainan understanding of the reality families are confronted with in terms of their health due totheir socio-economic status. The study was contextual, qualitative and exploratory usingpurposive sampling methods. The sample size was governed by data saturation and realisedas 17 families (n = 17). The participants for the study were families residing in SoshanguveExtension 12 and 13, South Africa. The data collection method was self-report using a semi-structured interview. Content analysis was done according to Tesch’s approach using opencoding. Five themes based on the theoretical basis of the study, including age, sex and geneticconstitution, individual lifestyle factors, social and community networks, living and workingconditions and general socio-economic status were used. Maintaining the health of peopleliving in a physically and psychosocially disadvantaged position requires a different approachfrom registered professional nurses. No community-specific intervention can be planned andimplemented to reduce the burden of communicable and non-communicable disease in thecommunity without evidence based on a family perspective.

Attitudes and knowledge of nurse practitioners towards traditional healing, faith healing and complementary medicine in the Northern Province of South Africa

Objective: To investigate the attitudes and knowledge of nurses towards traditional healing, faith healing and complementary therapies in the Northern Province in South Africa. Design: Survey of nurses. Setting: Registered professional nurses at health centres and clinics. Participants: 84 registered professional nurses Results: Nurse’s perceptions were basically positive toward ethnomedical therapy (traditional healing, faith healing and complementary medicine); this also included their integration into the primary health care system. Mean ratings for referral to a faith healer was 2.7, followed by complementary medicine (2.6) and traditional healing (2.2). Although low rates of referrals to ethnomedical therapists were practised, it was done so mainly in the patient’s interest and not as a last resort for chronic or terminal illness. Most did not discuss with a patient benefits of traditional healing but 71% discussed the possible harmful effects. However, the majority discussed the benefits rather than harmful effects of faith healing. With respect to mean ratings on knowledge, faith healing was considered the most important (4.3), followed by complementary medicine (4.2), and traditional healing (4.1). Conclusion: Faith healing was considered as more important than complementary medicine and traditional healing. Implications are relevant for nursing health care and policy.