Folk Medicine
In many traditional Black communities, folk medicine previously practiced in Africa may still be employed. The methods have been tried and tested and are still relied on. Healers or voodoo practitioners make no class or status distinc- tions among their patients, treating everyone fairly and honestly. This tradition of equality of care and perceived effectiveness accounts for the faith placed in the practices of the HEALER and in other methods. In fact, the home remedies used by some members of the Black community have been employed for many generations. Another reason for their ongoing use is that hospitals are distant from people who live in rural areas. By the time they might get to the hospital, they would be dead, yet many of the people who continue to use these rem- edies live in urban areas close to hospitals—sometimes even world-renowned
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hospitals. Nonetheless, the use of folk medicine persists, and many people avoid the local hospital except in extreme emergencies.