A Qualitative Study to Explore Cultural Beliefs and Structural Challenges Affecting Healthcare Access among Indigenous Women in Guatemala
Sunwoo Choi *
Public Health Sciences Division, STEM Science Center-111 Charlotte Place Ste.100/Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632, United States.
Nayeon Kim
Public Health Sciences Division, STEM Science Center-111 Charlotte Place Ste.100/Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632, United States.
Jeewoo Lee
Public Health Sciences Division, STEM Science Center-111 Charlotte Place Ste.100/Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632, United States.
Austin Doekyung Kim
Public Health Sciences Division, STEM Science Center-111 Charlotte Place Ste.100/Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632, United States.
Siah Jang
Public Health Sciences Division, STEM Science Center-111 Charlotte Place Ste.100/Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632, United States.
Noah Yejun Lim
Public Health Sciences Division, STEM Science Center-111 Charlotte Place Ste.100/Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632, United States.
Solbeen Kim
Public Health Sciences Division, STEM Science Center-111 Charlotte Place Ste.100/Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632, United States.
Jane Ham
Public Health Sciences Division, STEM Science Center-111 Charlotte Place Ste.100/Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632, United States.
Jihoon Lee
Public Health Sciences Division, STEM Science Center-111 Charlotte Place Ste.100/Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632, United States.
Wai Yin Natasha Lam
Public Health Sciences Division, STEM Science Center-111 Charlotte Place Ste.100/Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632, United States.
Joshua Handong Lee
Public Health Sciences Division, STEM Science Center-111 Charlotte Place Ste.100/Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632, United States.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The issues of Guatemalan people in accessing healthcare originate from complex cultural beliefs and historical legacies, with no apparent social explanation. This research examines how cultural beliefs, and structural challenges collectively influence healthcare access for Indigenous women in Guatemala, with a particular focus on traditional medicine. Indigenous populations often seek traditional practices, such as herbal remedies and spiritual support, as they provide physical and psychosocial relief, and linguistic, cultural, and social barriers that lead to disparities in health outcomes. While the study also explores physical treatment, including herbal remedies, massage, and other traditional interventions, comparing how these practices affect Indigenous women who have no access to modern healthcare services, the study also explores inequality of women and healthcare-seeking pattern of women through analyzing quantitative data from surveys with 100 participants and a review of existing literature, with the investigation on the complex interaction between cultural/traditional beliefs and modern healthcare structures that affects the healthcare access of Indigenous women in Guatemala. The accumulated survey data was reported as a percentage among the answers. The findings reveal that a significant number of Indigenous women are experiencing male-dominated decision-making, still visit traditional healers, use traditional remedies at home, and believe their religious beliefs are crucial in their approach to health and healing.
Keywords: Traditional medicine, massage therapies, geographic isolation, indigenous communities