Conventional and Complementary Therapy Use among Mexican Farmworkers in North Carolina: Applying the I-CAM-Q

• Published in: Journal of agromedicine Vol. 24; no. 3; pp. 257 - 267
• Main Authors: Arcury, Thomas A., Furgurson, Katherine F., O'Hara, Heather M., Miles, Kenya, Chen, Haiying, Laurienti, Paul J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis 03-07-2019; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Adult; Alternative medicine; Chiropractic medicine; Complementary and alternative medicine; Complementary Therapies - statistics & numerical data; Digital media; Education; Educational Status; Farmers; Farmworkers; Female; Health; health disparities; Herbs; Humans; immigrant workers; Male; medical pluralism; Medical research; Medicine; Medicine, Traditional - statistics & numerical data; Mexico - ethnology; Middle Aged; migrant and seasonal farmworkers; Nonprescription Drugs - therapeutic use; North Carolina; Phytotherapy; Plants, Medicinal; Self Care - statistics & numerical data; Sleep; Surveys and Questionnaires; Therapy; Transients and Migrants - statistics & numerical data; Vitamins; North Carolina; Mexico; Complementary and alternative medicine; health disparities; immigrant workers; migrant and seasonal farmworkers; medical pluralism
• ISSN: 1059-924X; 1545-0813
• DOI: 10.1080/1059924X.2019.1592049

Objectives: This analysis documents the use of conventional health-care providers, traditional healers, and complementary therapies by Mexican farmworkers; identifies the purposes and perceived helpfulness of these modalities; and delineates variation in the use of traditional healers and complementary therapies.
Methods: Two-hundred Mexican farmworkers in North Carolina completed interviews May-September, 2017. The International Complementary and Alternative Medicine Questionnaire (I-CAM-Q) elicited use of conventional health-care providers, traditional healers, and complementary therapies in the previous 12 months.
Results: Most of the farmworkers had been treated by a conventional provider (63.0%). One-in-five had been treated by any traditional healer; 19.5% had been treated by a sobador, 4.5% by a curandero, 2.0% by an herbalist, and 2.0% by a spiritual healer. Conventional providers (69.8%) and sobadores (84.6%) most often treated acute conditions; 62.5% had used an herb, 46.0% a vitamin, 57.0% an over-the-counter medicine, and 13.5% a home remedy. Participants used various self-care practices, including music (36.5%), sleep (18.0%), prayer for health (15.0%), and social media (14.0%). Education was inversely associated with the use of a traditional healer and herbs; treatment by a conventional health-care provider was positively associated with using a traditional healer and vitamins.
Conclusions: Mexican farmworkers use conventional health-care providers as well as traditional healers and complementary therapies. Research on how use of complementary therapies and a system of medical pluralism affects farmworker health is needed. Health-care providers need to recognize complementary therapy use and provide patient education about ineffective or harmful therapies.