Copyright © 2026 Authors retain the copyright of this article. This article is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

@article{190144,
        author = {Padlam Nayak and Urmila Sahoo},
        title = {Ethnomedicinal Knowledge and Healthcare Practices among Tribal Elders in Malkangiri, Odisha},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2025},
        volume = {12},
        number = {8},
        pages = {891-901},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=190144},
        abstract = {Tribal healthcare practices in Malkangiri, Odisha, are closely intertwined with the forest environment and collective cultural memory. Among these communities, elderly men and women act as the primary carriers of ethnomedicinal knowledge, drawing on long–established experience with local plants and healing traditions. This study examines how tribal elders use, preserve, and transmit traditional herbal remedies and how these practices continue to guide everyday healthcare. While plant-based treatments remain the first response to illness in rural villages, modern medical services are approached selectively, generally during cases of severe illness or emergency. For elders who have migrated or frequently interact with urban institutions, healthcare has taken a hybrid form that blends indigenous remedies with allopathic medicine. This reflects a process of adaptation rather than replacement, demonstrating the resilience of tribal knowledge systems. The study is based on ethnographic fieldwork supported by interviews and survey data. Findings emphasise the importance of safeguarding indigenous knowledge and suggest that culturally rooted healing systems can provide valuable direction for developing community-sensitive and integrative healthcare models.},
        keywords = {Tribal elders, Malkangiri, ethnomedicine, indigenous knowledge, traditional healing, hybrid healthcare practices.},
        month = {December},
        }