EVALUATION OF THE FACTORS IMPACTING ENTREPRENEURIAL SUSTAINABILITY OF TIBB HEALTHCARE PRACTITIONERS IN CAPE TOWN

Abstract

The Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) industry is growing globally and Unani-Tibb as a profession falls within this fraternity by being formally regulated in South Africa by the Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa (AHPCSA). Tibb Practitioners are formally recognised with practice numbers, but although very successful in their treatment approach within the confines of the Tibb Medical Centres (TMC), lack the ability to venture out into entrepreneurially sustainable private practices; which is problematic since entrepreneurial private practices are the domain of CAM Practitioners due to not being integrated into the public healthcare system. The reasons for this have to be investigated. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the factors impacting entrepreneurial sustainability of Tibb Practitioners in order to determine which factors can be utilised and effectively implemented so that recommendations may be made to ensure sustainability of the Tibb Practitioners within the TMC and as a successful method into sustainable private practices. The aim of the study is to evaluate the factors that impact on entrepreneurial sustainability of Tibb Healthcare Practitioners in Cape Town. To accomplish this, exploratory qualitative research was embarked upon by collecting data by means of semi-structured interviews. Self-selection non-probability sampling was used to give the target population of Tibb Practitioners in Cape Town the opportunity to respond and partake in the study. A pilot study with three participants was performed, followed by interviewing 16 respondents. The limitation to the study is seen in that data was collected by writing down responses instead of making use of audio or video. The data was analysed using inductive thematic analysis with the use of NVIVO-10.1 and SPSS-21 software. The findings indicate Tibb Practitioners are too comfortable within the comfort zone of the TMC resulting in them not seeing themselves as entrepreneurs and thus not acting accordingly. They lack business skills and the entrepreneurial drive to make a success of private practices; confirmed by the literature review. Many factors were identified and evaluated as impacting entrepreneurial sustainability of Tibb Practitioners, resulting in numerous recommendations to various stakeholders to ensure continued existence of Tibb