The perceptions and awareness of homoeopathy and the Homoeopathic Day Clinic (H.D.C) amongst students at the Durban University of Technology (D.U.T.)

Abstract

Tertiary education students are present and future health care consumers, and as such it is important that they are well educated in both mainstream and complementary health practices. Prior to this study, no data was available on the perceptions of tertiary education students towards homoeopathy in South Africa. The aim of this study was to bridge this gap in the database of knowledge by determining the perceptions and awareness that students at Durban University of Technology (D.U.T.) have towards homoeopathy and the Homoeopathic Day Clinic (H.D.C.) that exists on the D.U.T. campus. This survey-based study was conducted by administering 1080 questionnaires to fulltime registered students at D.U.T. who were in at least their second year of study at the university. A stratified random sample method was employed, based on the demographic variables of faculty, gender and race so as to generate a suitably representative sample. Of the 1080 questionnaires distributed, 1054 (97.6%) were returned and 1005 (93%) met the inclusion criteria to be used in the final sample. The responses showed that the students at D.U.T. have a fairly poor level of knowledge about homoeopathy. Only 48% of them had ever heard of homoeopathy and around 95% said that they had either never heard of it, had heard only of the name, or said they knew a little bit about it. In terms of practical experience with homoeopathy, only 6% have ever consulted a homoeopath personally before, and 9% said that they have family members who have