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Indigenous Beliefs About Biomedical And Bush Medicine Treatment Efficacy For Indigenous Cancer Patients: A Review Of The Literature, K. D. Schaik, S. C. Thompson

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

Background: Australia’s Indigenous people suffer from higher cancer mortality than non-Indigenous Australians, a discrepancy partly caused by differences in beliefs about treatment efficacy between Indigenous patients and their non-Indigenous healthcare providers. This paper critically reviews the literature associated with Indigenous beliefs about cancer treatment, both ‘bush medicine’ and biomedical, in order to provide recommendations to healthcare providers about accommodating Indigenous beliefs when treating cancer.

Methods: A search was undertaken of peer-reviewed journal papers using electronic databases and citation snowballing. Papers were selected for inclusion based upon relevance to themes that addressed the research questions. Results: Literature suggests that Indigenous beliefs …