A Study of Understanding and Use State of Health Care Methods in Some Rural Area

일부 농촌지역의 의료방법에 관한 인식 및 이용실태

A survey was made with regard to understanding attitude and practical use of modern and traditional methods of health care in a rural village with 742 inhabitants which comes under one of the whole three types of Korean rural community, to find out the following facts. 1. Among the five types of health-care given, the most understood, chosen and used one was the doctor followed next by pharmacy and continually herb doctor, folkways method, shamanistic treatment; the last shown method was principally chosen to use by only one among 139 housewives as respondants available, 2. Between herb medicine and folkways method of care, the former was more relief upon than the latter while the latter was more used than the former, seemingly because of relative low cast of the latter. 3. A considerable part of those who mainly used the doctor or pharmacy also used herb doctor or folkways care； modern and traditional care methods coexisted in the pertaining community. 4. Nearly all of the respondants ware, reasonably, aware of effectiveness of modern types of health-care; but, at the same time, more than a half of them had a positive attitude towards traditional method as well. 5, On the whole, the respondants made a distinction between traditional health-care methods and shamanism, regarding the latter as ineffective. 6. The result hints that it would be desirable for health-care professionals to inquire into traditional methods of health-care with a view to being more acquainted with rural residents and so raising their use of services by experts. 7. It should be added that the results of this piece of study may have a general significance only within those communities which shares the same socio-cultural background and characteristic of the surveyed one.