Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Herbal Remedies among Kani Tribes of Kerala State in India Toms Renin. M.B.1, Karkada Suja2, Sheilini Melita3 1Associate in Research (Former), School of Nursing and Midwifery Trinity College Dublin, University of Dublin, Ireland 2Offciating Professor & HOD, Dept. of Community Health Nursing, Manipal College of Nursing, Manipal University, Manipal 3Msc(N), Assist. Professor, Dept. of Medical-Surgical Nursing, Manipal College of Nursing, Manipal University, Manipal Online published on 11 October, 2012. Abstract An exploratory survey was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of Herbal Remedies (HR) among Kani tribes of Kerala state in India. Kani tribe families of Trivandrum forest division in Kerala was selected by cluster sampling method and interviewed by structured interview schedules. Objectives of the study were to assess the KAP of Kani tribes regarding the use of HR for their common ailments and to find the association between selected variables of the study. The major findings of the study were: Majority (98%) of the sample had good knowledge and favorable att itude (97%) on HR. The least self reported practice of HR was found for animal bite (70%) and fever (71%) and the most practice was found for cut (97%) snake bite (94%) burns (94%) and tooth ache (94%). Significant association were found between the attitude towards HR and previous experience of HR for burns, wound and Animal bite (P value: 0.025, 0.000 and 0.025 respectively), socio economic status and practice of HR for fever and Animal bite (P value: 0.011 for both) and the practice and previous experience of HR for all the common ailments (P value: 0.000 for all). A total of 70 plants were identifi ed as used for the selected ten common ailments such as: fever, headache, toothache, joint pain, jaundice, cut, wound, burns, snake bit and animal bite4,5. Top Keywords Herbal Remedies, Kani Tribe, Knowledge attitude and practice (KAP), Common ailments, Explorative Survey. Top |