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Beliefs, perceptions, and tendencies of patients with diabetes towards folk-healing alternatives: A qualitative analysis

Abstract The term “folk medicine” refers to the entire process of diagnosing and treating ailments. It is relied on by around 80% of patients in developing countries, including Ethiopia. The study looked into the experiences of type 2 diabetes patients in North-East Ethiopia regarding folk healing alternatives. A qualitative approach, informed by Kleinman’s explanatory model, was used. From July 2019 to January 2020, data were collected from twenty-four type 2 diabetes patients who were purposefully chosen to include varied socio-demographic characteristics, using face-to-face in-depth interviews until theoretical saturation was reached. QDA Miner Lite v2.0.8 was used to analyze the data, which was then discussed thematically. Twenty-four participants were interviewed (11 men and 13 women). Their average life-span with diabetes was 12 years. Allopathic alternatives to folk healing were viewed positively by the patients. They believed that the folk healers are deceivers. Rather of treating diabetes itself, folk medicines were used to address its consequences. Spiritual and herbal healing were the most common folk healing approaches. While the former was highly-practiced for both diagnosis (through “Woliy”) and therapy (“Dua” and “Tsebel”), the latter was not well-practiced and was only preferred for treatment. In contradiction to Kleinman’s explanatory approach, allopathic treatments were preferred over spiritual healing, while spiritual healing was preferred over herbal alternatives, implying that combining spiritual alternatives with diabetes care appears to improve intervention outcomes.