KNOWLEDGE AND USE OF ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE BY ELEMENTARY-SCHOOL-CHILDREN AND TEACHERS

The knowledge and use of popular cures was investigated as part of hea lth education project in such a way as to develop and expand the exist ing possibilities for critical and constructive discussion in the scho ol within the health program. It was hoped that this would result in t he retrieval and in an increase in the value attributed to information concerning this nonsystematized knowledge present in a controversial and poorly accepted form in the practices of the population. One hundr ed and five teachers and 162 students of the 1st to 4th grades of the four primary schools on the outskirts of Belo Horizonte were interview ed One hundred and five of the teachers answered the questions put. Tw enty-three (32,4%) of the teachers said they believed in special cures , 69 (65,7%) thought that certain diseases could be treated with homem ade remedies for these, 54 (78.3%) were able to associate a particular disease whit a particular medicinal plant and 15 (21.7%) prescribed a treatment without any association with a particular disease, 36 (34.3 %) cited a disease without relating this to a particular herb. One hun dred and one (62,3%) of the students believed that homemade remedies a re effective for certain diseases. Amongst the teachers and students v arious diseases were mentioned as well as different symptoms and organ s that can be cured by medicinal plants, roots or traditional healers. A little more than 50% of the two groups of students (1st and 2nd gra de, 3rd and 4th grade) live in families who make use of traditional he alers to provide alternative cures. More than 36 plants or preparation s of parts of plants were indicated by the teachers and students. It i s conclude that these individuals possess knowledge of and do in fact make use of alternative medicine.