NIEPEWNOŚĆ, RYZYKO, ZAUFANIE. SYSTEM OPIEKI MEDYCZNEJ I JEGO REFORMY W POSTSOWIECKIM KIRGISTANIE A STRATEGIE ZDROWOTNE MIESZKAŃCÓW BISZKEKU

Danuta PENKALA-GAWĘCKA

Published: 2014-12-31

Vol. 58 (2014)

UNCERTAINTY, RISK, AND TRUST. REFORMS OF HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IN POST-SOVIET KYRGYZSTAN AND HEALTH-SEEKING STRATEGIES OF THE INHABITANTS OF BISHKEK

Danuta PENKALA-GAWĘCKA

Abstract

This paper, based on fieldwork conducted between 2011–2013, deals with the attitudes of the inhabitants of Bishkek to the health care system and its reforms implemented in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan, and focuses on emotional factors that influence people’s health-seeking strategies in the context of medical pluralism. I outline the aims and results of the reforms and their evaluation by international and local experts, and confront their opinions with assessments made by the “ordinary” people. In my view, an apparent discrepancy between the official and popular views is due mainly to uncertainty and anxiety related to political instability and economic difficulties of the country, paired with general distrust in medical institutions and, particularly, in professional and moral standards of doctors. Corruption, greed and incompetence of physicians are mentioned among the causes that make therapeutic encounters risky. Such common approach leads to the often observed “doctor-avoiding strategies” and contributes to the increase in popularity of complementary medicine. I discuss some tactics and strategies employed by the people when coping with health problems in those circumstances. As I argue, despite some evident success in reforming health care system, it is important both to recognize its faults and deficiencies, and to take into account emotional factors that significantly shape people’s choices.

Keywords:

Health-seeking strategies, Reforms of health care system, Uncertainty, risk, trust, Post-Soviet Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan, Bizshek

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PENKALA-GAWĘCKA, D. (2014). UNCERTAINTY, RISK, AND TRUST. REFORMS OF HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IN POST-SOVIET KYRGYZSTAN AND HEALTH-SEEKING STRATEGIES OF THE INHABITANTS OF BISHKEK. Etnografia Polska, 58, 135–157. Retrieved from https://journals.iaepan.pl/ep/article/view/86

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