Healings Research Articles

A Qualitative Study on Formal and Informal Carers' Perceptions of Dementia Care Provision and Management in Malaysia.

Background: The number of people living with dementia worldwide is increasing, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where little is known about existing post-diagnostic care and support. This study aimed to better understand healthcare provision for people living with dementia in Malaysia, and to identify priorities for providing timely, quality, and accessible care and support to all.Methods: This is a qualitative interview study on care providers and facilitators (health and community care professionals, paid carers, traditional medicine practitioners, faith healers, community leaders, non-governmental organisations). A topic guide, piloted in Malaysia and peer reviewed by all LMIC partners, elicited the understanding of dementia and dementia care and barriers and facilitators to care for people living with dementia and carers, and perceptions of key priorities for developing efficient, feasible, and sustainable dementia care pathways. Verbatim transcription of audio-recorded interviews was followed by iterative, thematic data analysis.Results: Twenty interviews were conducted (11 healthcare professionals, 4 traditional medicine practitioners, and 5 social support providers). The findings indicate that dementia care and support services exist in Malaysia, but that they are not fully utilised because of variations in infrastructure and facilities across the country. Despite a locally recognised pathway of care being available in an urban area, people with dementia still present to the healthcare system with advanced disease. The interviewees linked this to a public perception that symptoms of dementia, in particular, are normal sequelae of ageing. Earlier detection of dementia is commonly opportunistic when patients present to GPs, government clinic staff, and general physicians with other ailments. Dementia may only be identified by practitioners who have some specialist interest or expertise in it. Workforce factors that hindered early identification and management of dementia included lack of specialists, overburdened clinics, and limited knowledge of dementia and training in guideline use. Post-diagnostic social care was reported to be largely the domain of families, but additional community-based support was reported to be available in some areas. Raising awareness for both the public and medical professionals, prevention, and more support from the government are seen as key priorities to improve dementia management.Conclusions: This qualitative study provides novel insight into the availability, delivery, and use of post-diagnostic care and support in Malaysia from the perspective of care providers. The respondents in this study perceived that while there was a provision for dementia care in the hospital and community settings, the different care sectors are largely unaware of the services each provides. Future work should explore how care provision across different service sectors and providers can be supported to better facilitate patient access and referral between primary, secondary, and social care. The importance of supporting families to understand dementia and its progression, and strategies to help them care for relatives was emphasised. There is also a need for broad workforce training and development, at both the postgraduate and undergraduate levels, as well as improved general awareness in the community to encourage earlier help-seeking for symptoms of dementia. This will enable the use of preventive strategies and access to specialist services to optimise care and quality of life for people living with dementia in Malaysia.

The association between the belief in coronavirus conspiracy theories, miracles, and the susceptibility to conjunction fallacy.

SummaryPrevious research has shown that people who endorse conspiracy theories are more prone to the conjunction fallacy: the tendency to perceive conjunct events as more probable than constituent events. The present study examined the relationship between specific beliefs (belief in conspiracy theories, religiosity) and the susceptibility to conjunction errors (CEs) in specific domains. A total of 500 participants was presented with brief scenarios from the domains “coronavirus conspiracy,” “miraculous healing,” and a control condition. Each scenario included one statement about a separate event and a second statement about two joint events co‐occurring. The participants estimated the probability of each statement. Results showed that the number of CEs made in the coronavirus domain was only associated with the belief in conspiracy theories, while general religiosity was only associated with CEs for scenarios describing miraculous healings. The assessed beliefs were not associated with CEs made in the control condition. Results suggest that distinct beliefs are uniquely associated with the susceptibility to conjunction errors in particular domains.

Healing in the Pentecostal tradition: A Scandinavian perspective

ABSTRACT Divine healing has been, and still is, a key feature of global Pentecostalism. Yet, scholarly studies on this important aspect of the Pentecostal movement have mostly been limited to a North American perspective on predominantly North American forms of Pentecostalism. This paper provides a revised perspective based on theological reflections, historical and empirical insights from a Scandinavian context. The study offers observations and reflections upon different streams in the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements of Norway and Sweden, including classic Pentecostalism, the Word of Faith Movement, and the so-called ‘third wave’ which is seen as an extension of the Charismatic Movement. The essay suggests a broader theological and historical re-envisioning of Pentecostal healing practices and prepares the ground for further systematic theological inquiry on a global scale.

A Digital Toolkit (M-Healer) to Improve Care and Reduce Human Rights Abuses Against People With Mental Illness in West Africa: User-Centered Design, Development, and Usability Study.

BackgroundThe resources of West African mental health care systems are severely constrained, which contributes to significant unmet mental health needs. Consequently, people with psychiatric conditions often receive care from traditional and faith healers. Healers may use practices that constitute human rights violations, such as flogging, caging, forced fasting, and chaining.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to partner with healers in Ghana to develop a smartphone toolkit designed to support the dissemination of evidence-based psychosocial interventions and the strengthening of human rights awareness in the healer community.MethodsWe conducted on-site observations and qualitative interviews with healers, a group co-design session, content development and prototype system build-out, and usability testing.ResultsA total of 18 healers completed individual interviews. Participants reported on their understanding of the causes and treatments of mental illnesses. They identified situations in which they elect to use mechanical restraints and other coercive practices. Participants described an openness to using a smartphone-based app to help introduce them to alternative practices. A total of 12 healers participated in the co-design session. Of the 12 participants, 8 (67%) reported having a smartphone. Participants reported that they preferred spiritual guidance but that it was acceptable that M-Healer would provide mostly nonspiritual content. They provided suggestions for who should be depicted as the toolkit protagonist and ranked their preferred content delivery modality in the following order: live-action video, animated video, comic strip, and still images with text. Participants viewed mood board prototypes and rated their preferred visual design in the following order: religious theme, nature motif, community or medical, and Ghanaian culture. The content was organized into modules, including an introduction to the system, brief mental health interventions, verbal de-escalation strategies, guided relaxation techniques, and human rights training. Each module contained several scripted digital animation videos, with audio narration in English or Twi. The module menu was represented by touchscreen icons and a single word or phrase to maximize accessibility to users with limited literacy. In total, 12 participants completed the M-Healer usability testing. Participants commented that they liked the look and functionality of the app and understood the content. The participants reported that the information and displays were clear. They successfully navigated the app but identified several areas where usability could be enhanced. Posttesting usability measures indicated that participants found M-Healer to be feasible, acceptable, and usable.ConclusionsThis study is the first to develop a digital mental health toolkit for healers in West Africa. Engaging healers in user-centered development produced an accessible and acceptable resource. Future field testing will determine whether M-Healer can improve healer practices and reduce human rights abuses.

Development of a Semi-Structured Instrument to Assess Religious Beliefs and Practices in Patients with Schizophrenia

Background:Religion plays an important role in the life of a large proportion of population. Various dimensions of religion and religiosity have not been thoroughly investigated in persons with schizophrenia. Aim: This study aimed to develop a simple instrument to assess various aspects of religiosity, which can influence the assessment and management of schizophrenia and evaluate the same in a group of patients, who are currently in clinical remission.Methodology:A simple semi-structured interview was developed to assess various dimensions of religion relevant to patients with mental illnesses. The questionnaire was administered to 100 patients with schizophrenia.Results:About two-thirds of the patients gave religious and supernatural explanations for their delusions, hallucinations, and other symptoms. More than three-fourth (78%) of patients reported that their religious beliefs influence their intake of the prescribed medications. The majority of the patients believed that God was helping them in dealing with their illness to some extent (29%) or very much (57%). About four-fifth (81%) of the patients attributed their illness to one religious or supernatural etiological cause. About two-fifths (39%) of the patients were first taken to a magico-religious faith healer at the onset of symptoms. In terms of treatment practices along with treatment from the tertiary care center, during the most recent relapse, the majority (82%) of the patients took recourse to at least one of the religious or supernatural modalities.Conclusion:The designed instrument provides a broad coverage of various aspects of religious practices which are prevalent in patients with schizophrenia. The use of this instrument in patients with schizophrenia suggests that religious beliefs and practices influence the type of psychopathology, etiological models about the illness, help seeking, and medication adherence.

Long-term Remission of Secondary Nocturnal Enuresis achieved by eradication of presumed Central Nervous System Infectious Etiology

While “miraculous healings” or spontaneous remissions of various disease states have been scientifically reported previously, the exact mechanism, which allow for these seeming miracles or spontaneous remissions is poorly understood. By contrast, I have recently published multiple case studies, which have included the “miraculous healings” of Sarcoidosis, Chronic Lyme Disease, Fibromyalgia, Parkinson’s disease, severe chronic debilitating plantar arthritis and Metastatic Squamous Cell Carcinoma without the use of pharmaceuticals or antibiotics and where the mechanism of action used to initiate the “miraculous healing” appears to have a cause-and-effect relationship and thus is reproducible. This case report now adds long-term remission of secondary nocturnal enuresis to the previous six case studies, which I have observed and now report to be successfully treated by a process, which Master John Douglas refers to as “Angelic Reformation.” These case reports are representative of the many hundreds of case studies I have documented (although most yet unpublished) over a twelve-year period, while observing the work of Master John Douglas and the graduates of his Elite Development course. While certainly inspiring, admittedly all of these observations must ultimately be subjected to additional rigorous scientific methodology. Yet, the sheer number of miraculous healings I have observed and the fact that this body of knowledge can be taught to others who obtain similarly effective results is very promising, given our current confusion regarding the exact mechanisms of action and/or causation of autoimmune diseases, Parkinson’s disease, chronic debilitating arthropathies, most cancers, and the wide variety of psychiatric disorders for which we have less than optimal treatment options.

고통에서의 전인적 연대를 위한 신학의 기여 가능성: 예수의 ‘함께 아파함’에 대한 논의를 통하여

The purpose of this essay is to make a point of contact between christian theology and modern medicine under the discussion of Jesus’ ‘compassion’, and to examine the possibility of theological contribution to holistic solidarity in suffering. For the purpose, we critically consider the discussion of Jesus’ ‘miraculous healing’ by Jesus Seminar. Through this, we conclude that the first thing we should pay attention to is not Jesus’ ‘miracle’, but his ‘healing’ as acts of compassion. In this way, when miracle events are included in the meaning of Jesus’ healing, it is expected to enrich the current theological discussions with naturalistic modern medicine. In addition, we try to reinterpret Jesus’ vision, ‘the Kingdom of God’ from the perspective of kenotic theology. Through this, nature, understood as blind necessity, can be the medium to communicate between theology and medicine, and can remove obstacles between the heterogeneous world views. In other words, nature in medicine becomes a foundation for humans to pursue a subjective understanding and autonomous intervention to suffering, and nature in theology becomes a reality that reveals the love of God who bears the suffering while embracing the other. This suggests that the intrinsic spirit of medicine is not much different from the sprit of Jesus’ compassion under the ultimate reality reinterpreted by kenotic theology, and makes medicine a good partner for theology working to bring holistic solidarity in suffering.

Placebo factors at healing sanctuaries in pagan and early Christian times

Abstract The article analyses possible placebo effects that Late Antique religious healing might have had. It focuses on healings believed to have been sent in dreams to worshippers, both in pagan and Early Christian tradition. It also investigates how possible placebo effects might have served to propagate and spread the particular cults (be it the cult of Asklepios, or the Early Christian cults of martyrs). The paper seeks to integrate modern placebo research with the ancient accounts of healings, answering the following question: is it possible that the placebo effect (above all relief of pain) was activated in ancient times by the same factors as seen in experiments today (e. g. effect of the healer’s persona, ritualized behaviour, and above all belief in the cure)? The scope of the paper is at the end broadened to touch upon the question to what degree ancient religious healing offered a socially well-established method of handling illnesses psychologically and fill the need to act, even if a cure as such was not a probable result.

Medical Pluralism

Medical pluralism describes the availability of different medical approaches, treatments, and institutions that people can use while pursuing health: for example, combining biomedicine with so-called traditional medicine or alternative medicine. If we look closely at how people deal with illness, navigating between home remedies, evidence-based medicines, religious healing, and other alternatives, we can notice that some degree of medical pluralism is present in every contemporary society. As a concept, medical pluralism lies at the heart of the discipline of medical anthropology, which owes its birth to the study of non-Western medical traditions and their encounters with biomedicine. This entry describes the history of debates in the scholarship on medical pluralism, the search for an appropriate terminology, and current theoretical and methodological developments. In the 1960–1980s, many studies were focused on patients and their strategies of choosing a ‘medical system’ from a plurality of options. In the 1980–1990s, the notions of medical systems and medical traditions came under severe criticism for their inability to describe how medical thought and practice change over time, often being too eclectic to fit single systems or traditions. As a result, anthropologists began investigating patient-doctor negotiations of treatment, their diverse health ideologies, as well as the role of political-economic factors in shaping the hierarchies of medical practice. Additionally, scholars began examining the processes of state regulation and institutionalisation of medical traditions (for example, as ‘alternative and complementary medicine’ [CAM] in Europe and North America). This opened the field of medical anthropology to new debates, terminology, and geographical horizons that are trying to account for the pluralist nature of medicine in the twenty-first century. Transnational migration, the Internet, the rise of alternative medical industries, and the global flow of medical goods and knowledge all serve as catalysts for ever-more pluralistic health-seeking practices and ideologies.

Gender, Health, and Healing, 1250–1550

In the afterword to this volume, Naama Cohen-Hanegbi describes this book as about “women’s health and women’s roles in healthcare” in the late Middle Ages and early modernity (316). Substantial recent research, including books and articles by editors Ritchey and Strocchia, has enhanced our understanding of both subjects. The chapters in this volume demonstrate how a wide historical gaze and careful contextual analysis of texts and images can better position the healing of women and women healers as central concerns in the history of medicine.The volume presents a series of case studies with overlapping interests and distinct methodologies, styles, and presentations. The geography of the chapters spans much of continental Europe and even includes two essays focused on the medieval Islamic world and the early Ottoman Empire. The opening section engages with religious healing—calling our attention to how religious rituals performed by women were part of the apparatus of healing. The next section contains four chapters, three of which focus on Italian subjects, to examine how medical knowledge was produced and transmitted through texts. The third grouping of chapters, which foregrounds care for the ill, shares considerable thematic ground with the first two chapters about religious healing. The final section of the book approaches issues of reproduction. The volume begins with a broad introduction and concludes with an afterword pointing to directions for future research.The subjects of women’s health and women caregivers, which too often have been absent from historical writing, require interdisciplinary analysis, and women as practitioners have often been obscured in the historical record. Methodologically, these chapters can be divided into two groups beyond the subject headings that structure the volume, according to whether their argument is primarily (1) textual or (2) contextual. The primarily textual essays identify the textual sources of women’s health and healing and explain how they fit into the late medieval and early modern intellectual landscape. This is not to say that these textually grounded chapters lack context. On the contrary, their strength often lies in how their authors draw out details about social and cultural milieus by examining the transformation of texts as they crossed cultural, social, geographical, and temporal terrain.The primarily contextual essays are exercises in looking obliquely at snippets of text, reading silence, and arriving at informed historical inference from a deep understanding of the social, cultural, intellectual, and (less often) economic contexts that surround a particular reference, document, or practice. The challenge in this worthy enterprise is providing compelling evidence to non-specialist readers who do not share the authors’ own deep expertise. In a few instances, the authors did not sufficiently equip readers with the breadth of understanding that this kind of argument demands.The chapters raise a broader methodological question for historians, literary scholars, art historians, and scholars of religious studies: After excavating such stories, how can we alter our histories of women’s health and healing to make them the central subjects and characters that they clearly were? Experiences of health and healing have always been gendered, albeit in ways that are fundamentally unstable and change over time. This volume is another push to treat gender in the history of medicine as a central analytical category rather than a niche interest.In that vein, a number of the contributions in this volume contain transcriptions, translations, and reproductions of primary sources that will serve as important resources in our classrooms, where we must teach histories that are more inclusive and representative. The Italian recipes for breast care, early Ottoman instructions for therapeutic baths, images from German surgery manuals, and excerpts from gynecological treatises in the medieval Islamic world will add texture and nuance to our portrayals of health and healing in past societies. I, for one, will never again teach Latin translations of Ibn Sina without the historiated initial depicting him holding a disembodied breast at the start of the section “de mamilla.”

Emotion-focused prayer with an emotion friendly God –My exploration of prayer with EFT techniques as a Chinese Christian counsellor

ABSTRACT This research is a self-as-subject heuristic inquiry, designed to provide in-depth qualitative data on the incorporation of a spiritual dimension into an experiential counseling approach. Training in the UK exposed my emotional block to anger, once hidden in a home culture and a Chinese Christian community. I was stuck in a position where I needed the relational capacity to form a trusting therapeutic relationship for therapy to work and yet did not have that very capacity to trust any therapist. Both Emotion-focused therapy (EFT) procedures and Christian prayer healing contributed to a breakthrough on my work with the emotional block, which fascinated and motivated me to explore the integration of the two. My personal interest in searching for therapeutic change mechanisms led me to find God as an emotion friendly Person who was helping me to become such a person. This paper aims to lend perspectives to therapists who work with clients who have a personal relationship with their God, even if the therapist has a different belief system.

Care for the Sick in Early Christianity: Lessons for the Current COVID-19 Stricken Church

Debates on whether early Christians relied solely on exorcism and other miraculous healing under the assumption that all diseases are a result of demonic activity, continue. On the one end of this scholarly continuum are those who hold that early Christians only approached disease and healing as purely spiritual phenomena (hence, focusing on exorcism and other kinds of miraculous healing), while, on the other end, others have argued that early Christians accepted a naturalistic view of the causes for diseases and, consequently, sought naturalistic solutions to diseases. However, like in many other areas of life and thought in early Christianity, there is truth in both of these contentions. Rather than choose sides in this debate, this paper will argue that, just like in other areas, early Christians chose and modified existing approaches to sickness and death based on their understanding of the scriptural teachings on these subjects. As such, their approaches provide some key lessons to the current Covid-19 stricken Church.

Did the Justinianic Plague Truly Reach Frankish Europe around 543 AD?

This article focuses on the episodes of bubonic plague recorded around 543 AD in Frankish Europe which on re-reading appear doubtful. Beginning in 541 and for two centuries, the Justinianic plague ravaged the Mediterranean area over several successive waves. The first mentions concern Egypt; the plague then spreads northward to Constantinople and almost concomitantly or shortly afterward moves westward until it reaches Western Europe. For this last region, the main source is Bishop Gregory of Tours, who in both his historical and his hagiographic writings, provides numerous data on the first outbreaks that raged in Frankish Europe, episodes to which he was a contemporary (even if for the first, he was still in early childhood). According to Gregory, around 543, bubonic plague ravaged several areas under Frankish rule. However, among others, intertextual, contextualized and chronological analyses strongly suggest that these events were in fact fictional. Gregory seems to have wanted to balance during epidemics of plague, the behavior of two bishops of Clermont that were totally opposed. In the episode of 571, when plague struck the episcopal city, the unworthy Bishop Cautinus, to escape disease, had fled the city in cowardice. In the other episode, through the intercession of Gregory's paternal uncle, the virtuous Gallus, the immediate predecessor of Cautinus and that of a saint specific of the paternal branch, the city, including the diocese, was spared from the plague. Other references to similar events in which, through saints, the plague is driven out, or territories are protected from it are also dated arbitrarily from this period. Furthermore, unlike the episode of 571, the plague of 543 is never considered a punishment for sin; moreover, no miraculous healing of plague patients is recorded. Contemporary texts from other authors of Frankish Europe, although they are rare, do not mention any epidemic around 543 - especially the Vita of Caesarius of Arles, written shortly after the death of this bishop (from 542 to 547-9) by several hagiographers - while two of Gregory’s texts, which are repeated almost verbatim, indicate that the province of Arles was the region most affected. This fact underscores the decisive contribution that hagiographic texts can make in the analysis of facts considered to be historical. Finally, the dramatic deteriorations in the health situation described in Gregory’s reports could have a background of truth and be the consequence of the climatic cooling observed from 536, likely due to volcanic eruptions, but did not involve the bubonic plague.

Healthcare beliefs and practices of kin caregivers in South Africa: implications for child survival

BackgroundAppropriate health-seeking practices may have a positive influence on child survival, particularly when practiced by kin caregivers of children who are below the age of 5 years. While literature has shown that children who are raised in kinship care often present with poor health outcomes and often have unmet healthcare needs, the health-seeking behaviours and practices of the children’s kin caregivers that ultimately influence these health outcomes remain largely unknown. In this paper, we explored the healthcare beliefs and practices of kin caregivers in South Africa on child survival.MethodsOverall, 12 structured interviews were conducted with all the participants. Six [6] interviews were conducted in the Eastern Cape province and 6 were conducted in the KwaZulu-Natal province. The sample of participants was obtained by seeking permission from the child welfare authorities in the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape Department of Social Development (DSD) to assist in identifying a sample of the kin-caregivers who have provided primary care to children below the age of 5. The structured interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic content analysis. After thematic content analysis was carried out, transcripts were given case numbers and then imported into NViVo version 11 for analysis and interpretation of the findings.ResultsThe healthcare seeking behaviours and poor use of healthcare services of the caregivers were largely influenced by their notions and perceptions of health and illness. The notions and perceptions that the caregivers hold about the health statuses of the children placed under their care and illness were found to be largely culturally determined and largely influenced by preconceptions and certain healthcare beliefs. Increased reliance on traditional herbs, Notion of witchcraft and Faith healing emerged as key factors that influence health-seeking practices and beliefs of kin caregivers, thus influencing under-five mortality.ConclusionKin caregivers should be equipped with the necessary guidance, resources and training that facilitate the successful fulfilment of the caregiving role, given the number of unmet needs and challenges that they face. This will in turn translate into positive child health outcomes.

Family care for persons with severe mental illness: experiences and perspectives of caregivers in Uganda

BackgroundIn low-income settings with limited social protection supports, by necessity, families are a key resource for care and support. Paradoxically, the quality of family care for people living with Severe Mental Illness (PLSMI) has been linked to support for recovery, hospital overstay and preventable hospital readmissions. This study explored the care experiences of family members of PLSMI with patients at the national mental hospital in Kampala, Uganda, a low income country. This study was undertaken to inform the development of YouBelongHome (YBH), a community mental health intervention implemented by YouBelong Uganda (YBU), a registered NGO in Uganda.MethodsQualitative data was analysed from 10 focus groups with carers of ready to discharge patients on convalescent wards in Butabika National Referral Mental Hospital (BNRMH), Kampala. This is a subset of data from a mixed methods baseline study for YouBelong Uganda, undertaken in 2017 to explore hospital readmissions and community supports for PLSMI from the Wakiso and Kampala districts, Uganda.ResultsThree interrelated themes emerge in the qualitative analysis: a range of direct, practical care provided by the caregiver of the PLSMI, emotional family dynamics, and the social and cultural context of care. The family care giving role is multidimensional, challenging, and changing. It includes protection of the PLSMI from harm and abuse, in the context of stigma and discrimination, and challenging behaviours that may result from poor access to and use of evidence-based medicines. There is reliance on traditional healers and faith healers reflecting alternative belief systems and health seeking behaviour rather than medicalised care. Transport to attend health facilities impedes access to help outside the family care system. Underpinning these experiences is the impact of low economic resources.ConclusionsFamily support can be a key resource and an active agent in mental health recovery for PLSMI in Uganda. Implementing practical family-oriented mental health interventions necessitates a culturally aware practice. This should be based in understandings of dynamic family relationships, cultural understanding of severe mental illness that places it in a spiritual context, different family forms, caregiving practices and challenges as well as community attitudes. In the Ugandan context, limited (mental) health system infrastructure and access to medications and service access impediments, such as economic and transport barriers, accentuate these complexities.

Profile of Intentional and Iatrogenic skin afflictions: An observational study

Intentional skin afflictions are often done as a means of relief from medical disorders as in the case of skin branding or as a means of cosmesis and beautification as in body piercing and tattooing. Such practices often have medical and psychosocial consequences.An observational study was carried out at a teaching hospital where a total of 36 (20 male and 16 female) consecutive patients with skin affliction which were either intentional and/ or iatrogenic, were included in the study after informed consent. Medical consultation was done for variety of skin afflictions and their consequences including skin branding (8), tattooing (12), body piercing(4), keloids(9) and hypertrophic scars(3). Abdominal causes of branding like ascites, umbilical hernia, chronic abdominal pain, huge splenomegaly were present in subjects who had undergone skin branding from faith healers. Psychosocial consequences of subjects who came for intervention and advice regarding unwanted tattoo marks and body piercing were Tattoo regrets, Army tattoo Policy, Requirement for job procurement, Relationship Conflicts, Disapproval from Peers, Self disapproval, Body image problems, Parental disapproval and others. Subjects having hypertrophic scars and keloids sought treatment for medical issues like pruritus and fear of carcinogenesis as well as for cosmetic reasons.Studyingprofileandpsychosocial problems related to intentional/iatrogenic skin problems may give insight for prevention of such consequences in dermatology and medical practice.

Three cases of hearing impairment with surprising subjective improvements after prayer. What can we say when analyzing them?

Aimto enhance the understanding of documented mismatches between ‘subjective’ experiences and ‘objective’ data in three cases of self-reported instantaneous healing of hearing impairment upon prayer. Methoddescription of three cases taken out of a larger retrospective case-based study of prayer healing in the Netherlands. In this larger study multiple reported healings were investigated using both medical files and patients’ narratives through in-depth interviews. A subset of three cases with dramatic subjective reduction of hearing impairment upon prayer was studied. These patients underwent extensive additional investigations at the audiology center of the Amsterdam University Medical Centre. All data was evaluated by an interdisciplinary medical assessment team, subsequent analysis was transdisciplinary. Resultsthe three case histories with self-reported healing after prayer demonstrated a clear mismatch between subjective experiences and objective findings. No measurable improvements were found in four different audiological testing methods. However, in-depth interviews, hetero-anamnesis and a validated questionnaire all confirmed the healings. The medical assessment team could not label these healings as ‘medically remarkable’ because of absence of measurable ‘objective’ changes, but they did consider them as ‘remarkable in a broader sense’. On expert consultation no equivalents of mismatches to this extent could be found. The healing experiences of our participants involved their entire being with profound positive effects in different domains of their lives, and a perception of a benevolent God who acted upon them. There was a distinctive pattern, labelled by the participants as a healing of mind, soul and body. ConclusionsThe subjective-objective incongruities that were found were not well understood. We noticed a paradox: the ‘objective’ measurements did not reflect hearing abilities in daily life where-as ‘subjective experiential’ data did. The latter could be ‘objectified’ and validated in various ways. In fact, a rigid distinction between ‘objective’ and ‘subjective’ was not relevant here, nor a hierarchy among them. A model leaving room for different causations (horizontal epistemology) complied best with the multi dimensionality we came across.

Do Persons with Disability Need Healing?

Abstract Much has been written on disability care and support from human rights, cultural, and religious perspectives around the world. However, there is still a paucity of information on the experiences of Persons with Disability (pwd) in their divine healing and deliverance encounter with the African Pentecostal Churches (apc) in Zimbabwe. This qualitative phenomenological study seeks to establish the lived experiences of 28 pwd s within the selected four apc s operating in the Harare province of Zimbabwe. The central questions underpinning this study were whether pwd need divine healing, and are they getting healed? The study used the religious model of disability and the Pentecostal ‘hermeneutic of healing’ as theoretical frameworks. While healing is essential to physical life, the findings show that pwd need dignity, recognition, and compassion more than the uncertain promises of divine healing. In the premises of the preceding, the study concludes and recommends that pwd receive holistic material and psychosocial support and that they stop endlessly chasing after a physical healing.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): Faith healing or science? An old-time problem.

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Doctor Death and Coronavirus: Supplicating Santa Muerte for Holy Healing

Human beings have long turned to religion and faith healing to overcome illness and seek to delay death. In the context of the COVID‑19 pandemic, I consider how in Mexico, devotees of Santa Muerte are turning to the folk saint of death to ward off and recover from the virus. I argue that supplication of Santa Muerte during times of coronavirus offers a social critique on the current context in Mexico. The government has introduced budget cuts, reducing spending during this pandemic, and failed to provide adequate measures to protect already vulnerable citizens living in poverty and within the grips of the drug war, from COVID‑19. Frontline workers are labouring in unsafe conditions with inadequate protective equipment and protocols. As a result, the death toll has risen rapidly. Mexico is currently listed as having the fourth highest death rate. I describe how fearing death, many have turned to the saint of death for recovery from coronavirus and to prolong life. My argument also counters the popular portrayal of Santa Muerte as a narcosaint, that is to say a saint solely venerated by narcotraffickers. Instead, I reveal that she is a saint of healing.