CHAPTER - VII FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION

CHAPTER - VII FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION

7.1 Introduction 7.2 Findings 7.3 Suggestions 7.4 Conclusion 7.5 Future extension of the study

7.1 INTRODUCTION This chapter focuses on findings and aspects of the researcher on various variables where the study has been focused and concentrated. The variables considered are socio - economic status of the patient customers, the level of awareness and the level of satisfaction from the patient customers, on the factors influencing the demand for Ayurvedic treatment in the urban areas of Coimbatore. 7.2 FINDINGS DEMAND FACTOR ANALYSIS > Ayurvedic treatment in the urban areas of Coimbatore highlights the necessary measures that need to be taken regarding issues relating to level of awareness, demand, service quality and level of satisfaction. The urban areas of Coimbatore are a best suitable place for sight seeing and pleasure. It also shows that the place has high floating population which is preferable of doing business. The state government can take steps especially to hold the key to success of marketing where customer focus approach remains a vital factor. > Patient customers prefer Ayurvedic treatment, for many attributes but preferences are given to originality, variety, availability and service performance. > The hypotheses testing clearly reveals that level of awareness, level of services provided, and demand has no significant influence over the level of satisfaction. > The level of awareness and satisfaction on the services provided has greatly influenced the demand for Ayurvedic treatment. 197

SOCIO - ECONOMIC STATUS > 53 per cent of patient customers are Male. > 43 per cent of patient customers fall under the age group of 46 to 60 years. > 40 per cent of patient customers have no formal education. > 42 per cent of patient customers are highly aware of the Ayurvedic treatment. > 36 per cent of patient customers have sourced the information through their friends. > 48 per cent of patient customers are aware of the Ayurvedic treatment for over a period of above 14 years. > 34 per cent of patient customers are moderately satisfied with the availability of Ayurvedic medicines. > 37 per cent of patient customers are highly satisfied with the price of Ayurvedic medicines. > 35 per cent of patient customers are highly satisfied with the recovery of their problems. > 36 per cent of patient customers are highly satisfied with the amount involved in consultancy. > 37 per cent of patient customers are highly satisfied with the availability of Ayurvedic Doctors. > 36 per cent of patient customers are highly satisfied with the experience of doctors. > 47 per cent of patient customers are highly satisfied with the easy accessibility to hospital. > Patient customers approach Ayurvedic treatment for their Asthma problems. 198

> Patient customers are not aware of a majority of the herbs used as medicine in Ayurveda. > Patient customers are not aware of the majority of herbal cosmetic products available in the market. ^ Patient customers are not frequently using the ayurvedic products. > Patient customers are aware of the various brands of chemical cosmetics like Godrej and Hindustan Lever but they are not aware of the ayurvedic brands available in the market. > There is a significant relationship between gender and doctors listening to health problems, age and treatment of doctors, educational qualification and availability of Ayurvedic medicines, occupational status and price of Ayurvedic medicines and marital status and recovery on the level of satisfaction on Ayurvedic treatment. SERVQUAL ANALYSIS > Doctors have to improve on modem looking equipments and improve physical facilities to attract their patient customers. > The employees provide their service as promised had a significant difference of mean and the standard deviation difference was very high between the perceived level and the desired level. > Doctors and employees inform exactly when the services will be performed. > Doctors and employees had their patient customers confidence instills by the employees good behavior. 199

> Doctors and employees give individual attention to all their patient customers and they understand the specific needs of the patient customers and they act according to patient customers need. > Responsiveness factors count for the first rank, the factor assurance has the second position, the tangibility factor has occupied the third position, fourth position has been occupied by the factor empathy and the reliability factor has the fifth position. > A comparison of the slope values of both perceived level and desired levels showed a mixed trend which indicates that the dimensions like tangibility, responsiveness and empathy had showed a lower value in the case of perceived levels while, the dimension on reliability and assurance had showed a lower values on desired levels. > In terms of service quality gap, the perceived level were found in a favourable position with a lower gap recorded in the case of majority of the factors under tangibility and responsiveness dimension and for majority of factors, the desired level were in a favourable situation. > The male patient customers, in the age group of above 60 years who have completed college level and who are self employed and married are frequently visiting the hospital. > The female patient customers, in the age group of 46 to 60 years, who have completed college level and who are self employed and also employed in government and private sectors and married revealed that the service in payment counters is normal. 200

> Patient customers both male and female, married and unmarried, who are in the age group of below 30 years and 31 to 45 years, who are not having education and doing agriculture, feel that the Consulting charges are moderate. > The female patient customers and unmarried, in the age group of below 30 years, who are professionally qualified and doing agriculture feel that the Diagnosis charges are moderate. > The female patient customers in the age group of above 60 years, who are not having education, they are doing business and professionals and unmarried feel that the quality of food served inside the hospital is moderate. > The female patient customers in the age group of below 30 years, who are not having formal education, employed in government and private sectors and unmarried feel that the dietician charges and food served is bad. SWOT ANALYSIS > Identifying the root cause of the disease and no side effects has created an enormous strength for Ayurvedic treatment. > Poor medical integration and lack of organized network of practitioners is still in weaker state. > Obtaining the patent rights and generating awareness regarding Ayurvedic treatment can be just viewed only as an opportunity factor that still remains unutilized. > Political turmoil and unqualified medical practitioners in the field of Ayurvedic treatment are the threat factors. 201

7.3 SUGGESTIONS > Demand for Ayurvedic treatment is high in the urban areas of Coimbatore, but the demand is highly oriented towards luxury factors. Hence a proper demand on health has to be created. > Patient customers are in need of bundled factors on Ayurvedic treatment. Hence proper consideration has to be given to sustain the demand factors. > Treatment of doctors determines the level of satisfaction of the patient customers. Therefore it is suggested to Ayurvedic doctors to allocate more time in listening to the problems of patient customers. > Ayurvedic Drug Manufacturers should take necessary steps to make the medicine available in all the markets and it should also be balanced in terms of supply. > The morbidity factors have a strong affluence in the demand factors of Ayurvedic products and so a main strategy can be adopted to create awareness on Ayurvedic products. > Male patient customers prefer Ayurvedic treatment, so their health problems should also be dealt seriously. > The income level also determines the amount spent on Ayurvedic treatment and hence the changes levied on the treatment can be kept at the earnest minimum. > Experienced doctors can be appointed in the hospitals, as it will uplift the propaganda and the brand name of Ayurvedic treatments. > The media advertisement is highly concentrated upon the luxury factors on Ayurvedic treatment and therefore a proper advertisement has to be launched on educating the necessity of Ayurveda. 202

> The educated and uneducated patient customers prefer Ayurvedic treatments and it is advised to the doctors that they can instill literacy programmes to explore Ayurvedic treatment. > Proper awareness on Ayurvedic herbs and medicinal herbs has to be created among the patient customers to avoid wrong usage of herbs blindly believing in traditional hereditary. > Ayurvedic treatment has a very strong uphold due its natural therapy among patient customers. But there are some weaknesses in Ayurvedic treatment also. Hence the practitioners of Ayurveda have to have long and knowledge on Ayurvedic Practices, Massages, Healing and curative effect, Manufacturing of herbs and Usage of herbs. > The Ayurvedic Hospitals have to provide all the facilities, namely general facilities, physical facilities, treatment facilities and common facilities to the patient customers. Proper streamline on the improvisation of these facilities will give a strong satisfaction to increase the demand of Ayurvedic treatment. > The Indian government should take some initiatives to provide the financial assistance in the form of subsidy for agriculturists, for cultivating medicinal herbs. It should also facilitate assistance to disseminate and to popularize Ayurvedic treatment. > The Indian government should step in the role of a regulator and a facilitator of investments in Ayurvedic industry. An apex body for Ayurvedic industry needs to be formed to promote the Indian brand abroad and aid inter-sectoral co-ordination. Joint ventures with overseas partners and establishment of MEDICITIES will help India building a significant advantage and leadership position in the Ayurvedit Treatment and Industry. 203

> A large number of expositions and exhibitions should be organized by the Ayurvedic Hospitals to create awareness for Ayurvedic treatment and to boost the demand for Ayurvedic treatment in big cities of India as well as in foreign countries. Expansion of foreign markets for all medicinal herbs and drugs may be given a patriotic consideration. > At present there is no pharmacopial standard on each of the active ingredients of Ayurvedic medicine like allopathic medicine. For standardization and quality control of Ayurvedic drugs, various steps can be followed like physical description, physical tests, pharmacoginised techniques etc, to ascertain the species of plant and study their pharmacoginostic character for the purpose of identification detection and analyzing the crude drug. > Ayurvedic products are fully dependent on the quality of raw materials and process of manufacture. The quality control process of some Ayurvedic formulations can be obtained from Pharmacopica Laboratory of India Medicine, near ALTC, Ghaziabad (U.P)\ > The demand for Ayurvedic treatment can be improved in terms of care, environment, investigational facilities, quickness of service and access. 7.4 CONCLUSION It is increasingly being recognized that the healthier the population of a country, the greater its economic growth. Liberalization has brought with it urbanization and changes in life styles that had a profound impact on the epidemiology of diseases and health care demands of the people. Rising expectations of a wealthier and well-informed society created the demand for Ayurvedic treatment. The primary concern is to cope up with the patient customers ailments and de- 204

contextualise Ayurveda by focusing on drugs and providing nutritional advice. Traditional medicine is based on the needs of individuals. Different patterns of globalization of Ayurvedic knowledge supported by Maharishi s will provide further insights into the Ayurvedic treatment culture among the patient customers that helps to discover a personal knowledge of living. The recognition by the government for health in various regions and the creation of an enabling natural environment, are the basis for the optimization usage of Ayurvedic treatment and medicines. Medical researchers should understand that the evaluation of traditional systems of medicine, and its inherent standards, would need intercultural research. This is vital to enhancing medical pluralism, which in its turn seems to be the best route towards the advancement of world medicine. 7.5 FUTURE EXTENSION OF THE STUDY Few of the future scope for research in Ayurvedic treatment can be given as below: > The present study attempted to examine the patient customers preference for Ayurvedic treatment. For a higher demand for any goods or services, an interaction between the seller and the buyer is essential. It is widely assumed that a particularly personal and harmonious relationship is an important reason for the popularity of complementary medicine. Little empirical research has been conducted on the perspectives of physicians and patients during these interactions. Hence, research can be carried out in this direction. > A recent interesting feature of the Ayurvedic treatment is that there is a sprouting number of Ayurvedic clinics in the United Arab Emirates and some other Gulf states. Gauging the demand for treatment centers in their place of residence, 205

several Ayurvedic doctors, who have studied and gained expertise in Kerala, have opened a number of clinics across the UAE and in the Gulf states of Oman and Qatar. The UAE emirate of Dubai alone is estimated to have around 40 such clinics, while several others have sprung up in other emirates in the country. The growth in demand for Ayurvedic treatment in USA and in other industrialized countries is also commendable. A moot question that arises in this context is what makes them to demand more of Ayurvedic treatment. For what kind of ailment, the foreigners are interested in taking Ayurvedic treatment. No studies have been carried out on these lines. Hence, such attempt can be made. > Ayurveda has been accepted as a complimentary medicine. However, its relationship with other medical sciences has not been examined. Hence studies can be carried out to identify to what extent Ayurveda is related to other medical sciences. 206