Practices, preferences, and perceptions of health amongst Amerindians of Highland Guatemala

More than a decade after the cessation of a 36-year conflict in Guatemala, values of health indicators and disparities in health care of indigenous Guatemalans remains amongst the poorest in the Western Hemisphere. Assessing the practices, preferences, and perceptions of health amongst indigenous Guatemalans may aid in distinguishing the factors involved in these disparities and help to determine the appropriateness of current and future health interventions.

210 informants were recruited amongst the indigenous populations of five villages surrounding Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. Informants participated in free lists, pile sorts, or a one page survey via snowball sampling. The study was conducted in three parts. In part one, 50 informants engaged in a free list study of preferred interventions for various illnesses. In part two, another 50 informants completed pile sorts of salient terms derived from part one. In part three, 110 informants completed a five-item survey identifying perceptions, preferences, and utilization of biomedical,traditional, and complimentary & alternative healing modalities. Data was analyzed via Anthropac and SPSS. Results display a marked preference for and utilization of natural and herbal medicine amongst indigenous Guatemalans under age 35. Implications of these results supported by the literature will be discussed.