Perceptions and awareness of homoeopathy in the rural Matatiele municipality in the Eastern Cape province

Abstract

Introduction: Homoeopathy is a health profession that focuses on diagnosing, treating and the management of diseases. In recent years’ homoeopathy has emerged as the fastest growing healthcare system in the world. Due to the shortage of healthcare facilities in South Africa, homoeopathy is one of the most cost-effective therapeutic method. Despite this, there is limited uptake of homoeopathic medicine amongst South Africans due to the lack of knowledge and misunderstanding of homoeopathy. The aim of this study was to determine the perceptions and awareness of homoeopathy in the rural Matatiele municipality in the Eastern Cape Province. The study aimed to answer two objectives, which were: 1) to determine the perceptions of homoeopathy amongst residents in the rural Matatiele municipality and 2) to determine the awareness of homoeopathy in the rural Matatiele municipality in the Eastern Cape Province in terms of perception and awareness questionnaire. Methodology: A quantitative study, a survey method was employed where questionnaires were used to collect data. The study took place in Matatiele municipality and no study of this nature so far has been conducted in the rural Matatiele municipality focussing on perceptions and awareness of homoeopathy. Matatiele local municipality is situated within the jurisdiction of the Alfred Nzo district municipality and the municipality has a population of 203 843. A sample realisation of 97.75% was achieved. The data collected were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics with a level of significance set at 0.05. All analyses were performed using SPSS (version 24). Results: Out of the total of 391 participants who completed the questionnaire in full, (92.1%) reported that they had never heard of homoeopathy. On the contrary, (7.9%) respondents had heard about homoeopaths in the past. Amongst the few who had knowledge about homoeopathy, it emerged that there was a positive perception of homoeopathic practice. It was found amongst those sampled that there was an awareness that homoeopathic remedies have a scientific base, have undergone clinical trials, and are safe to use in the treatment of infants, pregnant women, and the elderly. Equally, important, the effectiveness of the homoeopathy remedy in the treatment of both acute and chronic disease was placed in the same bracket as the allopathic medication. Consequently, some of the respondents stated that they would consider consulting with a homoeopath because homoeopathy is natural. Hence, a majority indicated that they were keen to know more about homoeopathy. Conclusion: From the results drawn from the respondents, it was sufficing to say that the level of knowledge of homoeopathy amongst participants was minimal, with, only 31 out of 391 respondents have heard of homoeopathy