Study of educational needs, level of education, and training courses of employees in herbal stores of Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari Province, Iran

Over 70% of Iranians treat their diseases by using medicinal plants and about 67% of these plants are prepared and distributed by herbal stores. Many people working in the herbal stores do not have specialized or academic education related to medicinal plants. Due to the importance of medicinal plants in human health, this study was conducted to determine the level of education and training courses of employees in herbal stores in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, Iran.

In this descriptive study, 48 people participated and the method of sampling was convenience.The data collection tool was a questionnaire that was filled out through interviews. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software.

62.5% of people did not have specialized education related to herbalism. 54.2% of the participants had attended related training courses and 45.8% had not. 70.8% of people had participated in private training courses and 29.2% had participated in university courses. The most important educational need of the participants was related to the amount of consumption, followed by side effects and interaction of medicinal plants with chemical drugs. 73.8% of people tended to attend courses offered by universities.

Half of the preparation and distribution of medicinal plants is done by inexperienced people with low education. This is an unprofessional behavior and illegal medical intervention that causes many problems and complications in patients. These interventions require correction. Authorized organizations should improve the scientific level of employees using educational interventions and programs and prevent the activities of unauthorized people.