Exploring the World Views, Spirituality, and Health Beliefs of Healthcare Professionals and Community Health Workers in Moshi, Tanzania

Cate Harding & Kim Atkins
Duke University Undergradutate Students

The Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health helped support this research financially and through faculty mentorship by Keith Meador. See abstract, presentation, and pictures below.

Click on each thumbnail to see the full photograph.

View the presentation, as presented at the Religion and AIDS in Africa Symposium "Prolonging Life, Challenging Religion" on April 17, 2009 at Justo Mwale College, Lusaka, Zambia, in color or black & white.

Abstract

As investigators have examined ways to prevent disease, promote positive treatment outcomes, and improve physical and emotional healing researchers have given increased attention to the interactions between spirituality and health. This work investigates how people, especially health care workers in Moshi, Tanzania understand the world, religion/spirituality, health, and the interactions between these concepts. Twenty-three interviews averaging an hour in length were conducted with members of KIWAKKUKI (a grassroots women’s AIDS NGO in Moshi), chaplains at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center, Islamic leaders in Moshi, and a Pastor of a rural village in the area. There were seven major themes that reoccurred across all interviews that showed that there is a strong belief that spiritual and physical healing are equally essential in combating disease, churches and religious organizations play a crucial role in forming people’s views on disease and health seeking behaviors, traditional healers and witchdoctors have a stronger presence in treatment in isolated areas where modern health facilities are limited, and that faith in religion is the most important belief among participants and influences their daily life actions and perspectives. In addition, this researched showed that because of a multitude factors like the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS and the limited time physicians have to spend with patients…religious and motivational counseling can provide a patient with individual empowerment and allow him or her to better understand his or her mental or physical health issue(s).