Cultural Health Barriers in Sierra Leone

These statistics are a reflection of the negative impacts that their cultural practices have had on their health. This paper identifies key the cultural practices that hinder the communities in Sierra Leone from adopting better health care. These practices also pose a health risk to the people. The practices and beliefs on resistance to western medicine, maternal and child healthcare, cause of diseases and death, female circumcision, people living with disability, preservation techniques of dead bodies, and caring for the sick. Based on these findings, the paper recommends that successful health programs targeting these communities should include strategies on how to educate the communities on the negative effects of these practices and the potential benefits of adapting better healthcare practices. This practice makes the women lack the needed pre-natal care given by healthcare providers because they consider healthcare providers to be outsiders.

Labor is kept secret because it is believed that drawing attention could alert enemies who had bad intentions to seek ‘witch powers’ so as to kill the mother or the baby. Long labor periods would also bring in accusations about the woman’s morality2. Complications and delayed birth is said to be caused by infidelity where a woman must have had contact with another man and the sperms ‘contaminated’ the pregnancy. Without a confession, no one is allowed to touch her or talk to her. The women assume episiotomies are dangerous to their health and they avoid the hospitals. They only make the decision to go to hospital when the pregnancy has complications. Decision making is also done collectively; the woman has to consult the relatives and the husband before making any health related decision3.

The woman has little or no control over her health issues such as the choice between having her delivery at a healthcare facility or in the village2. Some tribes leave the woman alone to go through the labor process and she is to keep quiet and not make any noise despite the pain. In addition, it is also good for the growth of the breast tissue and uterine tissue as well as in the increase of blood supply. It is important that the mother remains healthy so that she can produce good quality of milk for the child because the child gets nutrients from her. Moreover, women in general place the men and children above them and would be the last to eat.

It is believed that when a woman gives the man nutritious fleshy parts of the chicken, this is a show of love. The children and women are the most affected because they end up suffering from malnutrition. The neighbors and all relatives come to visit so as to provide emotional support for the sick. Efforts by medical practitioners to isolate the sick person in order to minimize the spread of the virus are not well received because the locals perceived this to be a threat to their culture4. Diseases like Ebola pose very serious health risks to the people especially because it is communicable. The people fail to understand the reason why the Ebola patients need to be isolated and that is the main reason for the protests.

Preservation Techniques of Dead Bodies Keeping and bathing the death for several days with proper preservation After the death of a person, the body is kept for several days so that rituals can be performed on it before it is laid to rest. In the rural areas, most people are not elites and word spreads very fast, a misconception that the professionals were not trustworthy and good people brought about grudges and mistrust to the western medicine. The people were warned by the traditional healers and witchdoctors that it was not good for them to visit medical facilities and that they would perish if they ever consumed western medicine or set foot in the hospital5. Most people believed their traditional healers and resisted because they believed they would die if they went against their advice5.

This belief is risky because it caused a barrier between the people and quality care. It leads to more casualties on preventable and treatable diseases which could be stopped with medical intervention. People with disability are marginalized in the society because they believe that these disabled people have got devils in their body that is the root cause of the disability7. Some people believe that disability is as a result of witchcraft. This belief makes it difficult for this people to get help since some of the disabled persons internalize these beliefs preventing them from getting medical help6. The relatives as well fail to offer assistance because they believe the person is cursed or has a demon within. Polio can be prevented through vaccination with multiple doses.

Many girls undergoing this procedure die due to excessive bleeding. Those who survive remain casualties suffering from different infections such as HIV/AIDS which often goes unnoticed. They risk spreading the disease because they are not well informed or are ignorant of its presence which is a major health risk in society9. Belief about the Cause of Diseases and Death Death and disease are believed to be caused by supernatural forces In Sierra Leone, death and disease are believed to be caused by supernatural forces5. People from this school of thought attribute sickness and death to be a punishment for breaking a taboo in society. Therefore, any health program that would be successful in this region should focus on educating the communities on better or alternative practices.