Evaluation of an Indigenous Traditional Healer and Medicine Program in a Canadian Correctional Facility

If the expression "Indian time" means anything, it should signify this history of temporal multiplicity.

India's tribal population, comprising 104.3 million people from 705 ethnic groups, faces significant health disparities, particularly in rural areas with limited access to healthcare. Traditional tribal healers serve as primary healthcare providers to tribal communities and indigenous populations, utilizing local flora, minerals, and culturally significant practices. Despite their importance, these practices are increasingly at risk due to the shift towards modern medicine. This scoping review aims to map existing literature on traditional tribal healing practices and their integration into the healthcare system, highlighting benefits, challenges, and areas for future research. This scoping review protocol will follow the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology and cover literature from January 2000 to May 2025. A systematic search will be conducted across key databases such as MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science, ProQuest, SCOPUS, Google Scholar, Cochrane library, and gray literature sources, such as government reports and other relevant sources of information from government websites in India. Data will be extracted and analyzed to assess prevalence, geographical distribution, types of traditional healers, and their healthcare practices. The review will explore the role of healers in the community, various treatment modalities, and the integration of these practices with modern healthcare systems. Findings will be presented in narrative, tabular, and diagrammatic formats. By mapping the available evidence, researchers can identify areas requiring further investigation and design new studies. The review will provide a comprehensive understanding of traditional tribal healer practices, emphasizing the need to safeguard indigenous knowledge and ensure the integration of best traditional healing practices into the modern healthcare system for better healthcare outcomes in tribal communities, particularly in remote areas.

Cultural and religious practices and beliefs have historically played a significant role in the management of disease outbreaks globally. This study explored how such beliefs and healing practices shape the vulnerability of communities to highly infectious diseases in three border counties in western Kenya-Homa Bay, Bungoma, and West Pokot. Using an empirical qualitative research design, we conducted 45 key informant interviews with 13 traditional healers, 16 religious healers, and their 16 patients. We also held 6 focus group discussions with community members knowledgeable about cultural customs and practices, and 1 participatory inquiry workshop with health professionals and administrators. The findings indicated that traditional and religious beliefs and healing practices influence community vulnerability to highly infectious diseases in two main ways. Firstly, we identified a dualistic illness etiology that includes both biomedical and socio-cultural interpretations. Traditional and religious healers often served as the first point of care for unexplained illnesses or those unresponsive to conventional medicine, which could delay appropriate treatment and compromise safe handling in case of highly infectious diseases. Second, we found that traditional and spiritual healing practices pose certain risks. Practices such laying of hands, use of herbs and rituals involving slaughtering of animals enhanced contacts. The use of protective gear among healers was inconsistent and often absent due to cost or fears that it could undermine the patient's faith in the healer's powers. These practices can potentially predispose individuals to highly infectious diseases, enhancing transmission and symptom severity. To mitigate the vulnerability of border communities to highly infectious diseases, we recommend comprehensive strategies that address the intersection of vulnerability factors, including healing beliefs and practices. This may involve policy initiatives to integrate traditional medicine practices with the mainstream health system, thereby enhancing disease prevention and control efforts.

It is advantageous to use plant chemicals and ethnobotanical techniques while looking into new medications. One essential measure to distinguish the bioactive components of medicinal plants used in formal therapy is to identify the phytochemicals. In this study, 20 traditionally used medicinal plants were taken from Lower Dir, Pakistan. The medicinal plant species were identified and grouped into appropriate families. Standard procedures were used to screen these medicinal plants for the presence of alkaloids, carbohydrates, cardiac glycosides, flavonoids, phenols, phlobatannis, saponins, steroids, tannins, terpenoids, and triterpenes. The phytochemical screening of 20 medicinal plant species revealed notable interspecific variation in secondary metabolites. It has been shown that nine different plant species' leaves, the whole plant body of 10 plant species and the flowers of one plant species contained major groups detected, that included alkaloids (57.1%) from 12 plants species, saponins (61.1%) from 13 plant species, tannins (95.2%) from all 20 species, steroids (52.4%) from 11 species, phenols (52.4%) from 11 species, flavonoids (76.2%) from 16 species, terpenoids (81%) from 17 species, triterpenoids (81%) from 17 species, and phlobatannins (42.9%) from 19 species. Tannins, flavonoids, and terpenoids were the most widely distributed, while alkaloids and saponins were also prominent in several species. Rich profiles were observed in Chenopodium album, Ficus carica, and Vitex negundo, whereas Justicia adhatoda, Withania somnifera, and Silybum marianum showed bioactive constituents consistent with their reported therapeutic uses. These research findings confirm traditional medicinal healing practices and the pharmacological potency of the studied florist diversity.

Indigenous women are grossly overrepresented both within the federal correctional system and among Sexually Transmitted Blood Borne Infection (STBBI) diagnoses in Canada. Mainstream approaches continue to fall short in addressing Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Hepatitis C and other STBBIs within this population. In this paper, we argue that, in order to be successful, STBBI programs and services must hinge on meaningful community participation, community ownership and incorporate Indigenous knowledge, perspectives and decolonizing methodologies. Further, they must take a strengths-based approach and focus on healing and resiliency rather than challenges and deficits.

COVID-19 impacts on decarceration for Indigenous, Black, and other racialized people in Ontario, Canada: an interrupted time series study.

The unique challenges of the correctional healthcare environment are well-documented. Access to community-equivalent care, voluntary informed consent of offenders with mental disorder, violence risk, suicide risk, medication misuse, and clinical seclusion, confinement and segregation are just a few of the challenges faced by correctional psychiatric services. This paper shares experiences for dealing with the ongoing challenges for psychiatrists working in the field. It provides an overview of the current state of mental healthcare in the federal correctional system in Canada, the legislative framework and initiatives aimed at addressing the healthcare needs of federal inmates.

The practice of traditional and complementary medicine is increasing in most low-and middle-income countries especially for chronic communicable and non-communicable diseases. In this study, we aimed to understand how people gain healing power and become traditional health practitioners (THPs), perceived causes of illnesses, and how THPs diagnose illnesses. This was a cross-sectional qualitative interview-based study. We used semi-structured in-depth guides to collect data from THPs identified through the Acoli cultural institutions and snowball sampling technique. The study team visited the THPs and interviewed them in their homes. Some THPs allowed the study team to visit them more than once and as well observe their healing practices and medicines. Thematic analysis approach was used to analyze the data. Atlas.ti version 9.2 was used to support data analysis. Twenty two THPs aged 39-80 years were included in the study. Most of the respondents were male, and married. We identified three main themes: (i) how people gain healing power and become traditional health practitioners; (ii) perceived causes of illnesses; and (iii) how illnesses are diagnosed. The majority of respondents reported that most people become THPs through: inheriting healing power from their parents or grandparents; transfer of healing powers from senior healers; instructions during visions and dreams; and, acquiring healing power during spirits possessions. Perceived causes of illnesses included: fate and natural causes, spirits attacks, curses by elders, witchcraft, contagion and infections, poor hygiene, heredity, and malevolent actions. THPs diagnose illnesses through various approaches including consultations with spirits, observing patterns of occurrences and events, evaluation of symptoms and signs of illnesses, use of bones from animals/birds and other objects to diagnose illnesses, performing diagnostic rituals, and using biomedical laboratory testing in health facilities. Healing knowledge and powers are acquired in particular ways that can be traced to appraise authenticity of healers during registration and licensing to ensure safety of patients. Understanding perspectives of the THPS on causes of illnesses and how diagnoses are made potentially informs strategies for integration and or collaboration between the national biomedical health system and traditional health practices.

Experiences of healthcare services are an important indicator of quality and health system improvement. In correctional facilities, structural and contextual factors affect experiences of healthcare services and processes for voicing these experiences. This study explores barriers and opportunities for people in custody to voice their experiences of healthcare services in custody. We held four focus groups and one interview with people living in the community who had accessed, or tried to access, healthcare services while incarcerated in a provincial correctional facility in Ontario, Canada in the previous five years. Using template analysis, we developed four interacting themes related to expectations and experiences of healthcare, and of submitting complaints or asking for help: i) the system is not designed for healthcare, ii) gatekeeping and perceptions of 'deserving' healthcare, iii) impact of healthcare on other outcomes, and iv) calling the abyss. These factors affected perceptions of the potential efficacy of a patient feedback process, and how people in custody were likely to engage with it. Participants also identified five key features that should be components of any patient feedback processes. This study highlights challenges to patient-reported experiences of care in quality improvement work in restrictive environments and with incarcerated populations.

BackgroundThe over-representation of Indigenous Australians in custody is well documented, yet little is known about whether the health and social needs of Indigenous prisoners are met in correctional facilities. This study sought to identify common areas of need in a representative sample of Indigenous people in custody, and consider how well prison services were addressing these issues.MethodsThe sample comprised 122 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in custody in Victoria. Participants were administered the Camberwell Assessment of Need Forensic-Short Version to ascertain the presence or absence of needs in custody. Statistical analyses to determine associations with re-offence were conducted.ResultsFindings indicated that prisons were able to meet the non-criminogenic needs of many offenders; however there was a limited capacity to address specific criminogenic needs. Psychological distress, substance abuse, poor treatment adherence and threatening behaviours were considered ongoing needs regardless of supports/interventions being provided. Moreover, these four unaddressed needs were all associated with future recidivism.ConclusionsEffective prison treatment services focusing on these four areas of need are urgently required. Such initiatives require continuation post-release combined with additional assistance to uphold basic non-criminogenic needs acquired in prison.

The relevance of traditional healing systems in understanding, expressing, finding a meaning and treating human suffering and misfortune has been one of the focuses in medical anthropology. Among the three main sectors of health care delivery in all complex societies, namely the popular, the folk and the professional, the folk healing represents the intermediate position consisting of sacred or secular healers or a mixture of the two. By doing field work in a seemingly sacred folk healing practice in north Kerala, namely Poonkutilmana, and engaging participant observation and non-structured open ended interviews as methods, I have attempted to throw light on the broader aspects of folk healing existing in this part of India. Poonkutilmana is a high caste Nambudiri Brahman family situated in Malappuram a district in Kerala with a predominantly Muslim population. The male members of this family practice the traditional art of healing which they do only inside their old mana, the traditional family house. This house also holds temples for the deities, Devi the Goddess and Ganapathi the elephant headed God, the destroyer of obstacles which they worship. Their clients are mostly from the same district but they also receive clients from far off places these days due to the publicity gained through the print media and internet. The clientele consists of a sizable number of Muslims and the healers declare their openness showing the open gate, which according to them is never closed. They have a specific healing tradition which combines Ayurveda, the Indian system of medicine with mantravada (translated often as sorcery or witchcraft but literally the use of mantras). They practice a non-institutionalized form of Ayurveda, because they are trained at their homes by apprenticeship and have not gained qualifications from any teaching institutions. The field work revealed that there are a multitude of afflictions present at this healing practice. The most important of them was Brahmaraksas which has been classically mentioned in Ayurveda as a malevolent graham or possessing agent which could be identified by spontaneous interest in learning Sanskrit scriptures and worshiping. But this affliction is identified today as the spirit of a dead Brahman dwelling on lands causing ill health first to the cattle and poultry and then to the humans, if not contained annually by worship. The other predominant afflictions were petiyilpetuka to get trapped in an insidious fear followed by a visual experience, sathru dosam the wrong doings of an enemy which indicated sorcery and alternately mentioned as kaivisham or hand poison, and sthala virodham a spatial incompatibility. Though spirit possessions (ettukutal) were not suggested or promoted by the healers, few clients, especially women identified themselves as possessed. Both possession and the wrong doings from an enemy were found to be mediated by astrologers. Another important feature of this healing practice was the presence of a large number of pregnant women and infants for the healing ritual as they were vulnerable and thus to be protected. The healing consisted of the ritual called uzhinjumattal, literally to remove by rotating around, chanting of mantras and giving a sacred thread or amulet with holy ash. The ritual treatment was combined with homemade medicines such as handmade pills, ghee for internal use and oil for application on the head and the prescription of certain Ayurvedic formulations including patented capsules. The rituals and the medical work occurred in tandem with their good words full of empathy and motivation. Though this traditional healing practice could be shown as a model of sacred folk healing practice, it has its own secular elements. It does not completely fit into the theoretical framework of Ayurveda, or mantaravada or astrology, but still remains popular. They have adapted their own methods of healing which are unique and indigenous. The possibility of multiple idioms of expressing the illness and multiple therapeutic options in the same practice provide the clients with different meanings for their sufferings and different methods of dealing with them.

This is a study of traditional healing practice and ethnic identity among the malay-speaking Thai Muslims in the Pattani area of Southern Thailand. Healing practice is described and located within both the broader historical and cultural development of the Malay Peninsula, and within a more detailed, contemporary, analysis of content. Data for this study was obtained both through archival research and thorugh participont-observation and in-depth interviews with a broad range of healers, loosely grouped under the terms spirit healers, bonesetters, and herbalists, all living within a 20-km radius of the city of Pattani. The study demonstrates that traditional healing practice is an adaptive process that reflects, acculturates and accommodates sociocultural change. The role of traditional healing practice is described through history with particaular reference to the colonial era and the current day situation. The contemporary content of healing practice is analysed using the author's observation of four major aspects of practice termed Ancestral Voices, Ancient Knowledge, Modern Means and Religious Guidance. These terms are used to demonstrate the co-existence of what are, at times, quite disparate facets of practice. As a result, healing practice is found to possess both lateral and plural tendencies that enable it to flexibly adapt to and absorb sociocultural change. In the process of accommodating both new influences and established practices, the healer is acting as a cultural conservative. Ethnic identity is presented within a neo-Marxist paradigm of ethnicity. Ethnicity is considered within the dialectic of asymmetrical power relations which in this instance illustrates the formation of the Thai nation-state. Ethnic identity is observed as 'oscillating' situationally, thus presenting a circumstantialist position. Thus the adaptability of the plural aspects of healing practice reflect the variable aspects that enable the oscillation of ethnic identity. In the role of cultural coltural conservative, the traditional healer of this ethnic minority group is promoting cultural preservation as a means to self preservation. Thus in the dynamic process of adaptive healling practice ethnic identity is promoted and sustained.

In spite of the presence of modern healthcare facilities such as hospitals, clinics, and health centers, coupled with well advanced modern medical technology, many people in Ghana continue to patronize traditional medicine. Using the qualitative approach, this study investigates the state and practice of traditional medicine among the Ewe of Ghana in contemporary times. In the first place, the study reviews literature on traditional medicine and African healing systems. Secondly, the study discusses the methodological framework. In addition, the study explores the state and practice of traditional medicine among the Ewe of Ghana, focusing on the ethnography of diseases, the topography of traditional medicine practitioners, and the prospects and challenges of the practice of traditional medicine in contemporary times. Data collection instruments such as interviews and observations were used to collect primary data. The study finds that traditional medicine contributes to alternative medicine, saves people from disabilities, and ensures the affordability of healthcare. However, it has been bedeviled with challenges such as the problem of licensing, lack of association, destruction of medicinal herbs, and infrastructural problems. The study concludes that traditional medicine continues to play a major role in healthcare delivery among the Ewe of Ghana in spite of the presence of modern healthcare systems. More significant is the fact that the study contributes to knowledge in the field of medical anthropology and Ewe ethno-medical history. Keywords: African Traditional Medicine, African Healing Systems, State and Practice, Ewe, Challenges and Prospects

We examined the explanatory roles of social determinants of health (SDOH) for First Nations people using a four-domain model of health and wellness based on the Medicine Wheel (i.e., physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health), including colonial-linked stressors (i.e., historical trauma, childhood adversities, racial discrimination) and cultural resilience factors (i.e., cultural strengths, traditional healing practices, social support). Data were collected in partnership with a First Nation in Ontario, Canada in 2013 through a community survey (n = 194). For each outcome (physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health), a modified Poisson regression model estimated prevalence ratios for the SDOH, adjusting for age, sex, education, and marital status. Negative associations were found for historical trauma with physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health; for childhood adversities with mental health; and for racial discrimination with physical, mental, and emotional health. Positive associations were found for cultural strengths with physical, mental, and emotional health and for social support with physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. We observed negative associations between use of traditional healing practices and mental and emotional health. Our findings suggest that these SDOH may play important roles in relation to wellness through associations with the domains of health modelled by the Medicine Wheel.

Studies on traditional healing have received a lot of attention from several academic disciplines, including; anthropology, sociology, religion, and medicine. The study of use, practice, organisation, measurement and social distribution of traditional medicine has, over the years, been a case of sociological inquiry. On the other hand, anthropological studies are engrossed in the confluence of traditional healing with witchcraft practices. Whereas the world of medicine academia has been preoccupied with analysing the medicinal values of herbs and their efficacy in the treatment of infections; religious and theological scholars have discussed traditional healing as an extension of spirituality beliefs. None has ventured to analyse the relationship that exist between traditional healing and society organisation since traditional healing practices are society specific. My major proposition is that unlike biomedicine that operates on universal principles, traditional healing practices differ from one society to another, and they are a reflection of the location, beliefs, socio-cultural, economic and political organisation of those societies. There exists an inextricable relationship between a society's healing traditions and its socio-cultural, political, economic, religious beliefs, and everyday life. Using Busoga society of Uganda as a case study, this article analyses the interconnectedness between healing and society organisation. It attempts to show how healing traditions proceed from the way societies think and organise themselves. Healing practices are then presented as not only a form of medicine to treat biological infections but an 'institution' upon which society's everyday activities are based.