Theses and dissertations (Health Sciences)
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Item An assessment of the marketing strategies used by Homeopathic Practitioners in the eThekwini Municipality(2022-09-29) Gumbi, Sandile Oswald; Hall, Cornelia Maria; Kamwendo, Andrew RonaldHomeopathy has been practised in South Africa for over 100 years, but thevast majority of South Africans have never heard of it. Only a small number of SouthAfricans use homeopathy, and it is largely unknown to many South Africans becauseit is only available through private health care, with only 20%of the populationestimated to belong to private healthcare schemes. There has been no study to examine the utilisation of marketing strategiestopromote homeopathy. A recent study at the University of Johannesburgreflectedthat students were not aware of homeopathy and the reason behindthiswasbecause of the lack of promotion and marketing of homeopathy. This researchinvestigates the marketing strategies used by practicing homeopaths intheeThekwini municipality area. The study aimed to determine the marketingstrategiesused and to evaluate successful application of these marketing strategies for patient acquisition. Furthermore, the study investigated the homeopathic practitioners’ attitudes towards the marketing strategies used to market homeopathic services. Data was gathered using semi-structured in-depth interviews with 12 participantsover a period of 45 minutes. The sampling used in this qualitative studywaspurposive and snowball sampling. The study followed a constructivismparadigm. After the study was completed, the researcher used qualitative thematicdataanalysis, which enabled the researcher to reach certain findings. The study results revealed four themes word-of-mouth, aversion to theuseof marketing, additional services are the key method of differentiation in themarket, and electronic word-of-mouth. The study made several important recommendations for marketing homeopathicpractices, the main one being that training and meetings on marketing shouldbeprovided by the Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa (AHPCSA) topractitioners in order to assist them in understanding what is and is not allowedinmarketing. In conclusion, there was a need to assess the marketing strategies that areusedbyhomeopaths for acquiring new customers, as studies have indicated that theinabilityto obtain new patients is due to poor awareness of homeopathy, which canleadtothe failure in growth of their practices. This research has revealed that thereisalackof understanding of what marketing is and its application in the healthcarespacebyboth the practitionersItem A comparison of the conceptual understanding and management of Acne Vulgaris amongst registered homoeopaths and izinyanga in KwaZulu-Natal(2019-12) Cebekhulu, Candice Sanelisiwe; Wulfsohn, T.O.; Dube, Nontobeko SibusisileINTRODUCTION Acne vulgaris commonly known as ‘acne’ is a chronic skin disease that is caused by inflammation or blockage of the hair follicles and their associated pilosebaceous units. Acne vulgaris typically affects areas of high density of sebaceous follicles such as the face, neck and back. More than 85% of the adolescent population including 20% of adult women and men worldwide are affected by acne vulgaris. Acne vulgaris further accounts for more than 3.5 million general practitioner appointments each year, making this disease a health concern worldwide. Dermatologists are medical practitioners who are qualified to diagnose and treat acne vulgaris. In the province of KwaZulu-Natal patients suffering from acne vulgaris frequently consult homoeopathic as well as izinyanga traditional health practitioners for the alleviation of their skin ailments. However, little is known about the conceptual understanding together with the management of acne vulgaris amongst registered homoeopaths and izinyanga in KwaZulu-Natal. AIM The aim of this study was to explore and compare the conceptual understanding as well as the practice and management methods of homoeopaths and izinyanga in the treatment of patients with acne vulgaris in order to fully understand their conceptual understanding and management of acne vulgaris. METHODOLOGY An exploratory study using qualitative research techniques together with inductive reasoning processes was employed to collect data from six registered homoeopathic practitioners and six registered izinyanga traditional health practitioners in KwaZulu-Natal selected by means of judgemental sampling and snowball sampling respectively. Semi-structured interviews in a face-to-face situation were utilised to collect the primary data. The collected data was then transcribed and analysed using framework analysis. RESULTS The results showed that the homoeopath and izinyanga respondents shared similar ideas in terms of their conceptual understanding and management of acne vulgaris. Both groups of practitioners held that acne vulgaris on its own was not purely a disease but was rather a symptom of a deeper underlying cause. Furthermore, both of them prescribed their treatment based on individualisation. Homoeopaths understood the disorder as an outer expression of an inner underlying pathology that presented itself outwardly via visible signs and symptoms. Suppression of the sycotic miasm together with hormonal imbalances were the two main underlying pathologies that they believed were the cause of acne vulgaris. Homoeopaths made their medical diagnosis based on physical examinations together with the past medical history medical history of the patient. Lastly, homoeopaths managed their patients through detailed case taking, constitutional and similimum remedies. Izinyanga described acne vulgaris as isichito (a human made curse to ruin ones skin or to break up a relationship), that was placed by abathakathi (witch doctors) or jealous individuals with the intention of ruining one’s face or with the aim of separating a couple. Izinyanga used ukuhlola (the use of ancestral powers to diagnose patients). Lastly their treatment regime consisted of a combination of herbs and natural elements (collectively known as uMuthi) together with ukugquma (i.e. steaming, where one exposes the face for several minutes to steam coming from a very hot pot while covering the head with a blanket draped over the pot) and ukuphalaza (to vomit or to clear the stomach through induced emesis). There were, however, a few differences between these two medical systems. Homoeopaths believed that in addition to the prescribed treatment patients should undergo counselling. The izinyanga did not share this idea. In addition, the izinyanga believed that witchcraft was a barrier to treating acne vulgaris patients while the homoeopaths did not mention this in their responses. CONCLUSION The conceptual understanding and management of acne vulgaris amongst the homoeopaths and izinyanga interviewed appeared to be similar despite a few differences in their treatment regime. Additionally, considering the fact that acne vulgaris is a chronic disease that affects the majority of the adolescent population at large and that many of these affected individuals consult either homoeopaths or izinyanga for the alleviation of their skin ailments, a co-operative practice between these two health practitioners is paramount. Furthermore, more awareness about the treatment methods offered by homoeopaths and izinyanga should be promoted within the healthcare system.Item The relationship between the natural history of the Papaveraceae family of plants and the homoeopathic symptomatology of existing remedies of the Papaveraceae family(2018-12-10) Mngadi, Samkelisiwe Nonduduzo; Wulfsohn, Terence 'Benzev'; Couchman, IngridDuring Samuel Hahnemann’s time, it was possibly simpler for homoeopaths to prescribe, as there were fewer remedies. Nowadays, there are thousands of remedies available to homoeopaths and the materia medica is continually increasing due to the increase in provings and homoeopathic research globally. As new remedies are being discovered annually, the abundance of homoeopathic data increases. While this is advantageous in many ways, some homoeopaths are concerned that the essence of some homoeopathic remedies is being lost. They also stress that the excess of data makes finding a similimum challenging. The extent of homoeopathic data has led to the establishment of various methods of simplifying the prescribing process. Miasmatic theory, the doctrine of signatures, kingdom analysis and homoeopathic repertory are some of the methods developed to try to comprehend the materia medica. Group analysis or kingdom analysis method is a relatively new method of classifying homoeopathic remedies. The group analysis method links similar remedies in terms of their botanical and natural history. It then analyses common characteristics from these remedies, thus forming a generalised picture of the whole group or kingdom. The aim is to form a broad understanding of all the remedies within the group by carefully studying the common characteristics found throughout the whole group. The group analysis method therefore highlights the polycrest remedies and subsequently illuminates the lesser-known remedies thus forming a complete picture of the group. This study is a non-empirical correlation study of the Papaveraceae plant family’s natural history and homoeopathic symptomatology of selected remedies belonging to the Papaveraceae family. This study is aimed at establishing the commonalities of natural history between selected individual remedies belonging to Papaveraceae and their mental, physical and general symptoms. It is also aimed at establishing the collective commonalities that exist between the natural history of the Papaveraceae family and the mental, physical and general symptoms of the whole Papaveraceae family. Homoeopathic software in the form of RadarOpus version 1.38 was used to select five sample remedies from the Papaveraceae family. The five plant remedies from the Papaveraceae family that had the most rubrics were chosen as the sample group. The Papaveraceae family has alkaloid remedies such as codeinum and morphinum but such remedies were excluded from the study because the researcher wanted to include whole plant remedies for a fair comparison of their natural history. The study used qualitative thematic analysis to establish common themes that exist between the natural histories of each of the sample remedies and their homoeopathic symptomatology (the mental, physical and general symptoms) found in the materia medica. Plant habitat and distribution, description, active principles (primary alkaloids), uses, physiological action, historical significance, mythology and toxicology were used to describe the natural history of individual sample remedies. The keywords taken from the natural history were subjected to thesaurus consultation in order to find synonyms relating to the homoeopathic symptomatology. RadarOpus was used to find rubrics and sub-rubrics which contain keywords and synonyms of individual sample remedies. The common themes relating to individual remedies were further tabulated and subsequently collective themes were established and further analysed. Common themes found between the natural history and homoeopathic symptomatology included “violent” found in Chelidonium majus, “excitement” found in Opium, “vomiting” found in Sanguinaria canadensis, “pain” found in Fumaria officinalis and “condylomata” found in Corydalis furmosa. Common themes found in all Papaveraceae family include “aggressive”, “pain” and “nausea”. The results of the study established that there is a relationship between the natural history of the Papaveraceae family and the homoeopathic symptomatology of existing remedies of the Papaveraceae family.Item Communication patterns in the homoeopathic interview : a comparative study of 5th year interns and qualified practitioners(2004) Nell, Nicholas; Hopkins, Crofton RussellThe purpose of this study was to compare the communication patterns in the homoeopathic first consultation between qualified practitioners and student practitioners. The overall patterns were also compared to standard medical literature on patient practitioner dialogue. Patients and methods The research groups consisted of two groups of ten participants: one group of qualified registered, and practicing homoeopaths and the other of student interns at the Homoeopathic Day Clinic at the Durban Institute of Technology. Each participant conducted two consultations which were taped for research purposes. These were conducted in the setting of either their private practices or in the Homoeopathic Day Clinic. These tapes were used to generate a data set that described the relative frequencies of certain utterances according to the Rater Interaction Analysis System (RIAS). This data set was analysed statistically to give a comparison between the two groups, as well as being used to describe the patterns of communication in a homoeopathic setting in the larger context of medical interactions. IV Results Significant statistical differences were noted in the communication patterns of practitioners as opposed to student homoeopaths.Item A clinical audit of registered homoeopathic practitioners in KwaZulu-Natal(2003) Verhooght, Marianne Bernadette; Steele, RichardFrom the world wide sales of homeopathic products for 1997, which were estimated to be $1.15 billion homeopathy is growing and becoming an important aspect of healthcare. In South Africa homeopathy is relatively new and there seems to be limited awareness of homeopathy amongst the public and healthcare authorities. A collection of basic data on treatment and prescribing patterns is urgently needed. A clinical audit, namely, practice based clinical research that allows the effectiveness of homeopathy to be evaluated under 'real-life' circumstances, is required. ABSTRACT A clinical audit includes three areas, quality assurance, treatment outcomes and economic outcomes. The study addressed the first two of these areas. Quality assurance includes documenting practitioner and practice demographics, procedures of diagnosis, care and treatment. The treatment outcomes were assessed by the practitioner and the patient. Patients also gave feedback on consumer satisfaction. The study was carried out by using the survey method and the measuring tool was a series of six questionnaires. The sample of practitioners (n = 30) was drawn from registered homeopathic practitioners of Kwazulu Natal (KZN). Data from 158 patients was collected. The study was completed in 5 stages. Stage 1, was a telephonic contact of all registered homeopaths by the researcher. In Stage 2, a face to face interview of participating practitioners was conducted by the researcher. Stage 3 was the initial consultation, where both the practitioner and patient completed questionnaires. Stage 4 consisted of a follow-up consultation where again the practitioner and patient completed post treatment questionnaires. Stage 5 was the exit questionnaire administered to drop out patients by the researcher telephonically.