NAVAJO USE OF NATIVE HEALERS

Background: Although the Indian Health Service provides extensive heal th care service to Navajo people, the role of native healers, or medic ine men, has not been quantitatively described. Objective: To determin e the prevalence of native healer use, the reasons for use, cost of us e, and the nature of any conflict with conventional medicine. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional interview of 300 Navajo patients seen consecutively in an ambulatory care clinic at a rural Indian Health Se rvice hospital. Results: Sixty-two percent of Navajo patients had used native healers and 39% used native healers on a regular basis; users were not distinguishable from nonusers by age, education, income, flue ncy in English, identification of a primary provider, or compliance, b ut Pentecostal patients used native healers less than patients of othe r faiths. Patients consulted native healers for common medical conditi ons such as arthritis, depression, and diabetes mellitus as well as '' bad luck.'' Perceived conflict between native healer advice and medica l provider advice was rare, Cost was the main barrier to seeking nativ e healer care. Conclusions: Among the Navajo, use of native healers fo r medical conditions is common and is not related to age, sex, or inco me but is inversely correlated with the Pentecostal faith; use of heal ers overlaps with use of medical providers for common medical conditio ns. Patients are willing to discuss use of native healers and rarely p erceive conflict between native healer and conventional medicine. This corroborates other research suggesting that alternative medicine is w idely used by many cultural groups for common diseases.