Culturally sensitive care of Misak Indigenous patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Colombia

Early Abstract:

Objective: To describe and understand the attitudes, cultural knowledge, and therapeutic practices of the Misak people concerning rheumatoid arthritis (RA), inscribed in an emergent culturally sensitive health care model along with the indigenous community and health professionals, following a respectful and empathic relational contact approach to the inter-ethnic encounter.
Methods: A qualitative study that used ethnographic methods using observation techniques and in-depth interviews was carried out in the Misak community, Colombia, by a multidisciplinary team (rheumatology, physiotherapy, and anthropology). A thematic analysis based around the concept of explanatory models (EM) was carried out.
Results: We interviewed 20 patients with RA, 12 traditional healers (TH), and 5 health professionals (HP). The following themes were identified. 1. The traditional healers are allowed to practice only if the community recognizes their vocation. 2. We observed two types of EM: Misak community EM related with conception of RA and its treatment is shared by patients and the traditional healers; and biomedical EM. Their interaction is still a health care challenge that requires articulating these two EMs to achieve better clinical outcomes for patients.
Conclusion: The EMs of RA care that we identified in the Misak community are focused on both the patients and the traditional healers. However, this predominant EM and the biomedical model of RA care need to be brought closer together to contribute to the construction of a unifying model of a culturally sensitive care.