Implications of healing power and positioning for collaboration between formal mental health services and traditional / alternative medicine : the case of Ghana
Date
2018-03-13
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Open
Abstract
Background: Many current debates about global mental health have increasingly called for
collaboration between biomedical and traditional medical health systems. Despite these calls,
not much has been written about the variables that would influence such collaboration. To a
large extent, collaboration dialogues have considered biomedicine on the one hand, and a
wide range of traditional and faith-based treatments on the other hand. However, this
dualistic bifurcation does not reflect the plurality of healing systems in operation in many
contexts, and the diverse investments that different non-biomedical healing approaches may
have in their own power to heal.
Objective: We set out to explore the diversity of different healers’ perceptions of power, and
the relationship between that power and the perceived power of biomedical approaches.
Methods: Through a qualitative design, and using the case of medical pluralism in urban
Ghana as an example, we conducted interviews among different categories of traditional and
alternative medicine (TAM) practitioners living and/or working in the Greater Accra Region of
Ghana.
Results: Through thematic analyses, differences in the notions about collaboration between
the different categories of healers were identified. Their perceptions of whether collaboration
would be beneficial seemed, from this study, to co-occur with their perceptions of their own
power.
Conclusions: We suggest that an important way to move debates forward about collaboration
amongst different sectors is to examine the notions of power and positioning of different
categories of TAM healers in relation to biomedicine, and the attendant implications of those
notions for integrative mental healthcare.
Description
CITATION: Kpobi, L. & Swartz, L. 2018. Implications of healing power and positioning for collaboration between formal mental health services and traditional / alternative medicine : the case of Ghana. Global Health Action, 11(1):1445333, doi:10.1080/16549716.2018.1445333.
The original publication is available at https://www.tandfonline.com
Publication of this article was funded by the Stellenbosch University Open Access Fund.
The original publication is available at https://www.tandfonline.com
Publication of this article was funded by the Stellenbosch University Open Access Fund.
Keywords
Traditional medicine, Mental health services, Alternative medicine, Ghana
Citation
Kpobi, L. & Swartz, L. 2018. Implications of healing power and positioning for collaboration between formal mental health services and traditional / alternative medicine : the case of Ghana. Global Health Action, 11(1):1445333, doi:10.1080/16549716.2018.1445333