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Mario Incayawar, M.D., M.Sc., Ph.D. |
Ron Wintrob, M.D. |
Lise Bouchard, Ph.D. |
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Psychiatrists and Traditional Healers:
Unwitting Partners in
Editors: Mario Incayawar, Ronald Wintrob, and Lise Bouchard ISBN: 978-0-470-51683-6
Most of the world’s population, who live in developing countries, has limited access to medical care (including psychiatric care), according to the World Health Report, 2001, of the World Health Organization. It is estimated that up to 85 percent of the world’s population relies on traditional healers and medicines to meet their health care needs. The World Health Organization, in its Traditional Medicine Strategy 2002–2005, notes that in Uganda, for example, the ratio of traditional healers to population is 1:200. This contrasts dramatically with the availability of biomedically trained health professionals, for which the ratio is 1:20 000. In certain regions of the world such as in the Andes of South America, there are no psychiatric or mental health services available to the 30 million Indigenous Peoples. They therefore rely completely on traditional healers, family and community support to cope with their mental health problems and relieve their psychological distress. This volume focuses on the significant contribution of traditional healers to the wellbeing of most of the world’s population and highlights the role of these unintended partners in global mental health. This exceptional book responds to the intense current interest in defining and understanding the contribution of traditional medical knowledge and the intervention techniques of traditional healers to national mental health services around the world.
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Facts on psychiatrists It is estimated that in low-income countries there is one psychiatrist for one million people. In Ecuador, there is one Quichua psychiatrist for a population of 5 million Indigenous People. |
Facts on traditional healers In Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, the ratio of traditional healers to general population is 1:200 to 1:400, constrasting dramatically with Western trained health professionals for which the ratio is 1:20 000. In the sub-Saharan Africa, traditional healers outnumber biomedically-oriented health practitioners by 100 to 1 |
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How to order the book You can order at any bookstore and online bookstores. |
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News and reviews BRITISH JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY See a book review by Anthony J. Marsella and Paul Pedersen in PsycCRITIQUES. Vol.55 (16), 2010, entitled Mental Health in a Global Community: Time to Integrate Western and Traditional Cultural Healing Methods. PsycCRITIQUES. PsycCRITIQUES |
Free sample chapters Wintrob R. Overview: Looking Toward the Future of Shared Knowledge and Healing Practices Maldonado-Bouchard S. South American Indigenous Knowledge of Psychotropics - The Need for Culturally Adapted Intellectual Property Rights Bouchard L. The Awakening of Collaboration between Quichua Healers and Psychiatrists in the Andes Incayawar M. Future Partnerships in Global Mental Health - Foreseeing the Encounter of Psychiatrists and Traditional Healers |
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