{"paper_id":"4c4d48d6-ab5c-4f74-9a14-6992b35ba337","body_text":"Parental experiences and perceptions of using traditional medicine and biomedical services for their children’s health: A qualitative study in Indonesia | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Parental experiences and perceptions of using traditional medicine and biomedical services for their children’s health: A qualitative study in Indonesia Nelsensius Klau Fauk, Alfonsa Liquory Seran, Gregorius Abanit Asa, and 5 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4700136/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background : Traditional Medicine (TM) is a culturally-rooted healthcare practice, and its use, including for treating illnesses among children, has been reported in many countries. Globally, Indonesia is in the top 10 countries with the highest child mortality rates. However, TM usage for treating illnesses among children in Indonesia has received minimal academic attention. Objective : This study aimed to understand parental beliefs, knowledge, views, and perceptions of TM and the impact on the use of TM and biomedical services in treating illnesses in children in Belu district, Indonesia. Methods : A qualitative design using in-depth interviews was used in this study. Participants were parents with real-life experiences using TM to treat their children’s illnesses. They were recruited using the snowballing sampling technique. A thematic data analysis was performed and guided by a qualitative data analysis framework. Results : Findings were grouped into four main themes: (i) parental beliefs, knowledge, views, and perceptions of TM, (ii) the influence of these factors on parental use of TM and biomedical services for treating children’s illnesses, (iii) social and cultural influences on the use of TM and biomedical services among their children, and (iv) the impact of the sole use of TM on children. Conclusion : The findings show that the use of TM is a common practice in Belu, however, evidence suggests that child mortality remains high in the setting. Thus, there is a need for the development of collaborative models of healthcare programs and service delivery fostering mutual respect and understanding between traditional healers and healthcare professionals. Traditional treatment biomedical services beliefs knowledge views and perceptions of traditional medicine social influence parents and children. Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {\"props\":{\"pageProps\":{\"initialData\":{\"identity\":\"rs-4700136\",\"acceptedTermsAndConditions\":true,\"allowDirectSubmit\":true,\"archivedVersions\":[],\"articleType\":\"Research Article\",\"associatedPublications\":[],\"authors\":[{\"id\":323712703,\"identity\":\"14eafad0-51ae-4146-86a0-d77ab70a3a7c\",\"order_by\":0,\"name\":\"Nelsensius Klau 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