A survey of medical specialists' perceptions and interactions with homoeopathy

Homoeopathy is a scientific, reliable and natural system of medicinal therapy, which has been in existence for over 200 years. Recent years have shown a profound shift in health and medicine, increasing numbers of the public are opting for complementary and alternative(CAM) therapies. In South Africa the situation for CAM and homoeopathy in particular looks more favorable. The government, in the form of the department of health, has drawn up specific guidelines for the regulation of homoeopathy and other CAM therapies. Much closer liaison should exist between the Allied health professions council of South Africa (AHPCSA) and the Health professions council of S.A (HPCSA) with the aim of uniting strengths to the advantage of the South African public to achieve an integrated, holistic care (Prinsloo, 2005). OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study is to provide demographic data on the perceptions and interactions of Medical specialists in the greater Durban area toward homoeopathy. Their general knowledge of homoeopathy and their views and communication with homoeopathy have been assessed. iv METHODOLOGY A survey method in the form of a questionnaire was employed to investigate the perceptions and interaction of Medical specialists towards homoeopathy. The sample of Medical specialists was drawn from the medical pages of the Durban Telephone Directory. The data was analyzed by means of descriptive statistics using frequency tables and bar charts. The Pearson’s Chi-square Test was used on selected data. RESULTS One hundred and fifty completed questionnaires were returned for analysis out of the 344 sent out. This gives a response rate of 43.60%. CONCLUSION From this study one can conclude that Medical specialists know very little about homoeopathy, and it can be assumed that this lack of knowledge is a possible reason for the poor communication that currently exists between these practitioners and homoeopaths