DYNAMIQUE FAMILIALE EN MATIÈRE DE SANTÉ: ENTRE TRADITIONALISME ET MODERNISME CHEZ LES ABBEY, AU SUD DE LA CÔTE D’IVOIRE

Abstract

Background: In Côte d'Ivoire, since the advent of the crisis of the HIV and AIDS epidemic, the structural adjustment policy of the 1980s and the end of the policy of total free healthcare for the majority of the population, the strategies within families for health emerged. In order to heal, the therapeutic routes within families are made by symbolic practices based on traditionalism, modernism and the juxtaposition of traditionalism and modernism. Method: A qualitative study made it possible to collect data from semi-structured interviews with seven (07) families in which 22 key people were interviewed and ten (10) sellers of medicines (including 05 street drug sellers called "cheaper" and 05 traditional healers for medicinal plants). Also, a detailed documentary exploitation and a participant observation for a period of eight (8) months structured by an observation grid formalized in a notebook were conducted. These data were analyzed by taking into account endogenous and exogenous knowledge including the symbolic practices of structuring health within families and this community. Result: The study shows that therapeutic dynamics within families are dominated by curative care practices with a juxtaposition of mobilizable care (modern and traditional medicine, self-medication). This domination of the curative on the preventive is intended to anesthetize the health or therapeutic awareness of the patient and his family. In addition, the study found that the pharmaceutical basket is largely structured therapeutic products housed in the tradition model and therapeutic products under the "common sense" (street drug). The consequence of all these health practices within families is the observation of the death of the individual by an easily curable disease. Conclusion: The present study was conducted in the Abbey community, an ethnic group in the southern region of Côte d'Ivoire, an area strongly marked by the colonization. The objective was to understand the social dynamics that structure the therapeutic practices and perceptions for the health care and preservation of the members of this community based on the health results obtained. In analysis, the remoteness of individuals from preventive therapeutic practices advocated by the health authorities is part of the actor strategy that Michel Crozier (1977) discusses, either to circumvent the financial expenses, or to give meaning to an event not judged too unfavorable for them or to reach a socio-cultural order not communicable.