Various cultures may imply certain practices towards medical preparations. Some of them may have no faith in modern medicine applications and prefer indigenous methods that have been in practice for generations. In Ghana, modern medicine is considered an expensive alternative to traditional curing methods. Due to doubt about its effectiveness and low health literacy, people are hesitant to consider it an option (Gyasi et al., 2016). This points to the negative impact of health beliefs in the region. Nevertheless, different ethnic groups’ health-related beliefs and behaviors can result in positive health and well-being and beneficial health results, significant and dangerous health consequences, or no detrimental health impacts and hence are harmless.
In consideration of the medical administration, it is possible to point out several implications of health beliefs. One of such implications is the limitation of medication administration to the doctors or medicine men in western regions and only when a patient demonstrates specific symptoms. In community medicine, the prescription should be done by professionals with modern knowledge, insight, and moral obligations in the form of Hippocrates’s oath. On the other hand, some communities may rely purely on cultural methods of medication administration. Treatment methods may be administered based on bodily elements such as humoral imbalances manifested as too much “hot” or “cold” (Taek et al., 2019). Consequently, “Cold” conditions are treated with “hot” drugs, while “hot” diseases are treated with “cold” medications, restoring equilibrium to the individual (Taek et al., 2019). This demonstrates how such cultural factors as health beliefs may result in a large disparity in medical administration.
Two potential adverse reactions from health beliefs could be considered an overdose and an underdose. The first refers to the inadequate ingestion of drugs purely based on previous experience that is not supported by reliable medical knowledge. After the development of the COVID-19 vaccine, numerous media influencers, without prior consultation with medical professionals, were abusing the vaccine injection by making numerous injections at unrecommended intervals. This behavior is dangerous as it may cause unverified complications within the body. On the other hand, underdose is also possible as people consider western medicine as deeply flawed and dangerous for consumption. They may consider lowering recommended dosages that sabotage the effectiveness of the drugs and have little to no impact on alleviating the symptoms resulting in prolonged sickness.
One possible issue is adherence to medication regimens could be subjective attitudes regarding chronic illnesses. They regularly and negatively impact patients’ adherence to therapy regimens (Shahin et al., 2019). Taking patients’ comprehension into consideration while offering health advice and/or providing medical treatment is one of the challenges for health professionals in improving adherence (Shahin et al., 2019). Patient-related factors influencing adherence could be cognitive limitations and physical impairments, low self-esteem, substance abuse, lack of knowledge, and motivation. These factors may influence patients’ belief in the effectiveness of medicine and create a subjective perception of adherence which often increases non-adherence risks among older adults.
It is possible to derive several intervention strategies that could improve adherence. These strategies include patient education, which can be characterized by telephone counseling sessions with professionals that would be recurrent and personalized (Kini & Ho, 2018). Another method is medication regimen management which could be used with patients that are hesitant to consume drugs due to the fear of side effects. It includes using combination pills so that patients will consume fewer pills daily (Kini & Ho, 2018). Nevertheless, it is necessary to consider that adherence will be determined by the practice’s or health system’s viability and availability.
References
Gyasi, R. M., Asante, F., Abass, K., Yeboah, J. Y., Adu-Gyamfi, S., & Amoah, P. A. (2016). Do health beliefs explain traditional medical therapies utilization? Evidence from Ghana.Cogent Social Sciences, 2(1), 1209995.
Kini, V., & Ho, P. M. (2018). Interventions to improve medication adherence.JAMA, 320(23), 2461.
Shahin, W., Kennedy, G. A., & Stupans, I. (2019). The impact of personal and cultural beliefs on medication adherence of patients with chronic illnesses: A systematic review.Patient Preference and Adherence, Volume 13, 1019–1035.
Taek, M. M., Banilodu, L., Neonbasu, G., Watu, Y. V., E.W., B. P., & Agil, M. (2019). Ethnomedicine of Tetun ethnic people in West Timor Indonesia: Philosophy and practice in the treatment of Malaria. Integrative Medicine Research, 8(3), 139–144.