Who's talking? Communication between health providers and HIV-infected adults related to herbal medicine for AIDS treatment in western Uganda

Antenatal Care Strengthening in Jimma, Ethiopia: A Mixed-Method Needs Assessment

“…However, limited verbal interaction between provider and user was, and it is, interpreted as a barrier for counselling during ANC. Limited verbal interaction between user and provider has been described in other sub-Saharan settings [33, 34], and it has been ascribed in part to the fact that existing social hierarchies in the surrounding society are reflected inside the facility; poor and less-educated patients are often treated less politely and are given less attention than middle-class or wealthy patients [35, 36]. …”

Engagement of Traditional Healers and Birth Attendants as a Controversial Proposal to Extend the HIV Health Workforce

“…The occurrence of healers “poaching” unsatisfied HIV-infected patients, health consequences of patients bouncing back and forth between the two systems, and impact of herbal remedies on viral suppression is underexplored [44]. These data are difficult to capture for several reasons: (1) it can be difficult to locate patients who have abandoned care; (2) patients may be unwilling (or unable) to disclose the exact herb name and dosage of alternative treatments they are receiving [45, 46]; and (3) healers are often suspicious of revealing the treatments they provide, fearing the allopathic system will steal it without compensation [3, 47]. …”

Provider–patient interaction in rural Cameroon—How it relates to the patient's understanding of diagnosis and prescribed drugs, the patient's concept of illness, and access to therapy

“…As a majority of HIV patients use herbal medicine, nonWestern treatment options and their possible interactions should be dealt with during consultations to ensure that patients can make informed decisions about herb and pharmaceutical drug cotherapy. Integrating discussion about herbal medicine and its influence on antiretroviral therapy was presented as a timely and cost-effective component of HIV and AIDS treatment programs in Africa [7]. In this regard the low frequency of interactions relating to the patients' concepts of illness in our study and the often harsh reactions of professionals when patients brought in their own ideas certainly calls for an improvement in professional's willingness to acknowledge their patients' disease concepts.…”

“…At least in one investigation, good interpersonal communication and counselling skills were found to be at the heart of successful IEC programs [5]. The few studies focusing on provider-patient interaction in African countries specifically during medical consultation commonly reach the conclusion that a greater emphasis on the interpersonal communication between patients and health-care workers would be beneficial in a variety of settings [6][7][8]. However, to our knowledge the direct relationship of communication during routine medical visits with the patient's knowledge about the disease and his/her health believes has never been examined in Sub-Saharan Africa.…”