Collaboration between traditional and western health practitioners in Sendedza village: challenges and strategies

Abstract Collaboration of traditional health Care systems and Western Health Care System has become increasingly important in recent years, particularly in Africa and other developing regions. However, the collaboration of traditional health practitioners and western health practitioners is often hindered by various challenges. The objectives of the study were to explore problems that traditional health practitioners and western health practitioners encounter in collaboration and to identify best implemented strategies in the collaboration of traditional health practitioners and western health practitioners. The study was grounded in Afrocentric Theory (AT). Qualitative exploratory research was adopted. Purposive sampling, a non-probability sampling technique, was used to sample five (5) traditional practitioners, five (5) western practitioners and five (5) community members. The study used semi-structured interviews to collect data. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data. The findings of the study reveal that there are several challenges faced by African traditional health practitioners in South Africa, including a lack of government recognition, leading to perceptions of inferiority compared to Western medicine. Indigenous healing is underappreciated despite its historical effectiveness. The study recommends that there should be a governmental budget for the traditional health practitioners to have training certification.