Strategies of Resort to Curers in a Village of Himachal Pradesh: Medical Pluralism in a Village Set-up

Health seeking behaviour of people is marked by multiplicity based on vast range of influencing factors. Almost in all societies there is simultaneous existence of more than one system of medicine. Each system of medicine is based on and utilised according different worldviews and perceptions of the people. The strategies of resort to curers do not solely depend on the perception of a single individual but it embraces all the factors- may it be the nature of things, kinds of diseases, their folk interpretation, influence of the family or the socio-economic status play a major role. Medical pluralism or the health care pluralism has attracted the attention of many of the social scientists. The book focuses on understanding of medical plurality and factors influencing usage of particular systems of medicine by people in case of suffering illness. The study dwells on the existence of medical pluralism, in general, and strategies of resort to curers by people in case of illness experiences, in particular. The work is based on in-depth interviews of respondents from a village in district Sirmour, Himachal Pradesh.