Use of folk healing practices by HIV-infected Hispanics living in the United States

Abstract

In the absence of a medical cure for AIDS, HIV-infected individuals may seek alternative treatments that are consistent with cultural and social beliefs. This paper examines beliefs about, and use of, folk healing practices by HIV-infected Hispanics receiving care at an HIV AIDS clinic in inner-city New Jersey. Anonymous individual interviews were conducted with 58 male and 18 female HIV-infected Hispanics aged 23-55, primarily of Puerto Rican origin 61 or descent 29 . The majority of respondents believed in good and evil spirits 73.7 ; among the 56 believers, 48 stated that the spirits had a causal role in their infection, either alone or in conjunction with the AIDS virus. Two thirds of the respondents engaged in folk healing spiritualism and or santeria . The main desired outcomes of folk healing included physical relief 44 , spiritual relief 40 , and protection from evil 26 . A number of respondents n5 9 stated that they hoped to effect a cure by engaging in folk healing. These results indicate that health care professionals treating HIV-positive Hispanics should be aware of the prevalence of folk beliefs and alternative healing practices in this population.