This thesis examines the popularity of traditional bonesetters in the treatment of fractures in rural Tanzania, along with the community’s need for collaboration between these practitioners and hospitals. It shows that 92% of patients with a fracture visit a bonesetter, while only 32% attend a hospital during the healing process. Unfortunately, complications are common, particularly in complex fractures. To address this, patients, bonesetters, and doctors unanimously expressed their support, through focus groups and interviews, for closer collaboration. Two interventions were implemented: first, an orthopedic training program for both medical staff and bonesetters, aimed at fostering collaboration in the patient’s best interest; and second, a shared care model in which patients, after undergoing X-rays, were treated by the bonesetter when possible and in the hospital when necessary. A pilot study of this approach already showed that collaborative treatment leads to fewer complications. Larger-scale studies are needed to further investigate this effect.
Joost Binnerts (1992) studied medicine at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Honour’s Program). After working at the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital and in Tanzania, he specialized as a physician in Global Health. He founded “Building Bridges for Broken Bones” and initiated collaboration between bonesetters and hospitals. He is currently training as a general practitioner in Amsterdam and is co-founder of Stichting Shirati.