Conventional and Complementary Therapy Use among Mexican Farmworkers in North Carolina: Applying the I-CAM-Q

ABSTRACT

Objectives: This analysis documents the use of conventional health-care providers, traditional healers, and complementary therapies by Mexican farmworkers; identifies the purposes and perceived helpfulness of these modalities; and delineates variation in the use of traditional healers and complementary therapies.

Methods: Two-hundred Mexican farmworkers in North Carolina completed interviews May–September, 2017. The International Complementary and Alternative Medicine Questionnaire (I-CAM-Q) elicited use of conventional health-care providers, traditional healers, and complementary therapies in the previous 12 months.

Results: Most of the farmworkers had been treated by a conventional provider (63.0%). One-in-five had been treated by any traditional healer; 19.5% had been treated by a sobador, 4.5% by a curandero, 2.0% by an herbalist, and 2.0% by a spiritual healer. Conventional providers (69.8%) and sobadores (84.6%) most often treated acute conditions; 62.5% had used an herb, 46.0% a vitamin, 57.0% an over-the-counter medicine, and 13.5% a home remedy. Participants used various self-care practices, including music (36.5%), sleep (18.0%), prayer for health (15.0%), and social media (14.0%). Education was inversely associated with the use of a traditional healer and herbs; treatment by a conventional health-care provider was positively associated with using a traditional healer and vitamins.

Conclusions: Mexican farmworkers use conventional health-care providers as well as traditional healers and complementary therapies. Research on how use of complementary therapies and a system of medical pluralism affects farmworker health is needed. Health-care providers need to recognize complementary therapy use and provide patient education about ineffective or harmful therapies.

KEYWORDS:

• Complementary and alternative medicine
• medical pluralism
• health disparities
• migrant and seasonal farmworkers
• immigrant workers

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences grant R01 ES008739, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health grant 5T03OH009406 10, and by Health Resources and Services Administration grants 150431HO073 02 and D33HP29248.