they are characterized by a combination of practices and knowledge about the human body and coexistence with other human beings with nature and with spiritual beings they involve all aspects of health promotion prevention of illness and treatment and rehabilitation but differ from most western health systems in that they take an integral or holistic approach many indigenous families address illness with a variety of approaches and practices using either traditional or western medicine or a combination of the two if treatment administered in the home proves insufficient the choice is made often by a woman who is the primary decisionmaker in this arena as to whether to send the sick person to a practitioner of traditional or of western medicine in the absence of state health systems that incorporate the philosophies and practices of both traditional and western medicine the choice becomes polarized between the two systems often to the detriment of the sick person