Pharmacological treatment compliance: A qualitative approach to the Pehuenche reality

• Main Authors: Patricio Oliva, Carmen Gloria Narváez
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Medwave Estudios Limitada 2013-07-01
• Series: Medwave
• Subjects: ethnic medicine; pharmacological treatment; compliance
• Online Access: http://www.mednet.cl/link.cgi/Medwave/Estudios/Investigacion/5742

Background: Chronic noncommunicable diseases are a growing problem in different socioeconomic groups and age ranges. Among chronic diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes and dyslipidemia, pose a greater monitoring challenge for medical staff, mainly treatment compliance in the Mapuche and Pehuenche people. Methodology: Qualitative, ethnomethodological investigation that provides the theoretical and methodological framework on issues related to the concept of disease and treatment compliance. Information was collected through interviews. The recruitment process was stopped when the saturation point of information was reached. At that point, structural semantic content analysis was performed. Results: Conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, dyslipidemia and other chronic diseases are not culturally and historically defined, contradict religious the system and compete with longstanding institutions. Consequently, drug treatment is not effective in this particular socio-cultural setting. Conclusion: The conceptual differences between allopathic and Pehuenche medicine result in compliance issues, particularly because of their conceptualizations of chronic diseases.