Abstract:
The present study aimed to examine the determinants of using alternative treatment plans in different types of problems by different educated professionals to facilitate in formulating the appropriate marketing strategies of the most important emergency product- Medicare service providers. This paper attempted to find out the attitudes and behavior of educated professionals in adopting different alternatives in different types of physical problems in order to carry out appropriate program of social marketing. The educated professionals of different fields are selected by stratified sampling method for collecting data by a structured questionnaire. Four major types of alternative treatment plans are considered; allopathic treatment on the basis of modern medical science, homeopathic, herbal and most irrational spiritual-magical method. Physical problems are also divided into seven major categories to get a reflection on overall viewpoints. Opinion of professionals on the main reasons of selecting specific service is also considered for that research. The findings reflects that choices of alternatives by the professionals is differed in different types of problems depends on the success rate, cost of service, risk of side effect and the fear of treatment method specially in case of surgery. Misconception about the cause of diseases and treatment plans is prevailing among a small portion of professionals due to their cultural belief that is not changed by their education. Aggressive advertisement in mass media and other media is also influencing the patients to take the alternative of most scientific method.
Machine summary:
Hasan 1 Department of Business Administration, Sylhet International University, Sylhet, Bangladesh 2,3 Advanced Research and Language Institution, Sylhet, Bangladesh Received 17 October 2014, Accepted 21 February 2015 ABSTRACT: The present study aimed to examine the determinants of using alternative treatment plans in different types ofproblems by different educated professionals to facilitate in formulating the appropriate marketing strategies of the most important emergency product- Medicare service providers.
The findings reflects that choices of alternatives by the professionals is differed in different types of problems depends on the success rate, cost of service, risk ofside effect and the fear of treatment method specially in case of surgery.
No complete treatment plan is available in the world, no plan is beyond any criticism (Rahman, 2003) There are major four categories of treatment plans available in the almost every countries of the world; Allopathic- the mainstream medical science, Homeopathic- based on symptoms of the patient and ‘law of similar’(Yaqoot, 2009) Herbal- Ayurvedic or Unani where medicine are produced by the plants and minerals and the religious or magical treatment – on the belief that diseases are due to the evil affect of men, jinn or stars.
Ignorance, lack of awareness, fear of side effect, inappropriate use of drugs by doctors and patients, fear of surgery and adulterated medicine produced by some of pharmaceuticals attracted the professionals towards alternative treatment plan.
Total Allopathic Homeopathic Folk Medicine Students Job Holders profession Businessmen Doctors, Engineers, health workers Housewives, retired persons & others Total Source: Field Survey Conducted on March 2014- Aug. 2014 Table 3 illustrates that, 10.