| Abstract: | The Rathwa of Kadipani village are adivasi (original inhabitants, tribe) residing in
a rural part of Gujarat State, India. Primarily farmers, the Rathwa live in an area where
development-related projects, such as mineral mining and damming on the Narmada
River, are increasingly impacting their livelihood, health status, and quality of life. The
local economy is impacted by uncertainty regarding access to water from the Narmada
River, concerns related to the extraction of minerals from a mine in Kadipani, and
economic issues that arise when the primary wage earner of the household becomes ill.
This dissertation addresses Rathwa health care practices, relying primarily on
social constructivism and a political economy framework. I also discuss feminist theory
when I analyze women, health care, and spirituality, and modernization theory when I
consider the impact of development on health. This study examines the intersection of
ethnomedical health care practices (e.g., indigenous/folk medicine/faith healing, Ayurveda
and homeopathy) with biomedical/allopathic health care practices. The pluralistic health
care system available to the Rathwa in both Kadipani and Kawant villages offers services
from private and public sectors, resulting in individuals and families in search of treatment
frequently accessing multiple health care providers of both the ethnomedical and/or
biomedical categories simultaneously. Treatments for illness may include a visit to a
Bhoua (faith healer), a public clinic provided by the government, and home remedies
prepared from locally available medicinal plants.
This junction of ethnomedical and biomedical health care practices impacts family
health care seeking behavior and decision making in a number of ways. With a variety of
health care providers available, people will go from one provider to the next until they
receive the treatment they are requesting (e.g., antibiotics, injections, etc.), or their
symptoms dissipate and they are healed. This practice may result in conflict with certain
aspects of Rathwa history, tradition, and cultural practices, such as forgoing a visit to the
indigenous healer, a practice which is considered part of Rathwa tradition, and going
straight to the public clinic for prescription medications, or giving birth in the public
hospital instead of using a traditional birth attendant at home.
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