Traditional practitioners' behavioural adaptations to changing patients' demands in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Patients' expectations cause traditional practitioners to adapt their method of working. They can adopt therapeutic techniques from cosmopolitan medicine. Another possibility is to raise the image of the traditional healer by stressing the differences with cosmopolitan medicine. A third possibility is to concentrate on those patients' demands not well catered for by modern doctors. The data presented are based on extensive interviews with 78 indigenous Srin Lanka practitioners, 14 which are briefly described. About 50% of the practitioners in our survey are working in cosmopolitan style. They attract more patients than those who do not and they can ask higher fees. Yet, those who still work traditionally play an important role in Sri Lanka health care. The different adaptations of indigenous practitioners to modernization reflect the changing demands of patients.