The viewpoints of managers and executors regarding the use of traditional medicine in the Iranian family physician program

For many years, the promotion and development of traditional medicine along with modern medicine has been the main focus of the WHO. In Iran, traditional medicine is not provided at the executive level of the health system. The aim of this study was to determine the viewpoints of managers and executors regarding the use of traditional medicine in the Iranian family physician program (FPP).

This cross-sectional study was conducted by holding 16 panels of experts in the winter of 2017. The research population including 481 managers and executers of the implementation of the urban family physician program in 28 cities of Fars province were selected by census. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. Data were entered in Excel and analyzed in SPSS 23 at the significant level of p<0.05.

Among the 481 subjects, 56.5% were male and most of them had a bachelorchr('39')s degree. The familiarity level of 64.9% of people with traditional medicine was very low and low, 28.3% moderate as well as 6.8% high and very high. The mean viewpoint of the subjects was 2.98±0.7 in 5. The highest level of attitude was about avoiding haste and positive effect of empowerment. The lowest level of individuals’ attitude was regarding adequate supervision of traditional medicine providers and family physicians having the necessary knowledge and skills. There was a significant difference between age, level and field of study, residence and occupation of people with their familiarity and attitude toward the use of traditional medicine (P<0.05).

This study showed that the familiarity level of people with traditional medicine was low, and their attitude was moderate. Therefore, it is essential to implement the intervention programs.