HEALTH-CARE SEEKING BEHAVIOR AND FORMAL INTEGRATION - A RURAL MEXICANCASE-STUDY

In 1990 we interviewed 205 clients attending the rural community healt h clinic in Tlayacapan, Morelos to determine the range of health care practitioners that people consulted and the reasons behind their choic e. Using a separate questionnaire, we also interviewed 17 health care practitioners, ranging from biomedical physicians to indigenous healer s, regarding their etiology and treatment of various biomedical and tr aditional health problems. Analysis of the data revealed that health c are seeking behavior is linked to a person's perceived etiology or cul tural knowledge. The more traditional the perceived etiology, the more apt the client was to choose a traditional practitioner or, for pract itioners, the more apt to prescribe traditional treatments. Our data i dentified specific practitioner statuses which could serve as models f or the formal integration of biomedical and traditional health. While conducted in a Third World context, our findings have implications for the growing use of alternative health care in the First World.