Interprofessional Collaboration of Health Care Providers in Botswana

Abstract

Notwithstanding the availability of Western medicine across the country, many of Batswana continue to utilize either of the three or all available health systems; namely traditional, Western and pastoral systems of healing and care. There is therefore a need to develop models of collaboration that promote a workable relationship between these three health systems. This paper seeks to establish the possibility of the interprofessional collaboration by medical professionals, African traditional healers and pastoral care givers in Botswana health care system. It is based on both primary and secondary data collected for a period of two years in Botswana. Although it used mixed methods, the study was primarily qualitative in nature. The paper advocates for holistic care as it acknowledges attention to all dimensions of human existence and ultimate healing. It also calls for the implementation of interprofessional health policy in Botswana, collaborative patient centred practice, changes in attitude towards interprofessional collaboration and for the development of interprofessional curriculum in our local educational institutions.