ArticleTranscultural psychiatry2015
'A thing full of stories': Traditional healers' explanations of epilepsy and perspectives on collaboration with biomedical health care in Cape Town.
Article in Transcultural psychiatry, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 77 citations in OpenAlex.
- Health Professionals' Attitudes Towards Traditional Healing for Mental Illness: A Systematic Review.International journal of mental health nursing · 2025Pooled it
- Community perspectives and recommendations to reduce epilepsy stigma and enhance effective management of epilepsy in Uganda: A qualitative study.Epilepsy & behavior : E&B · 2026Article
- Intellectual Disability Support: Traditional Healers' Views on Collaboration with Western-Trained Healthcare Practitioners.Transcultural psychiatry · 2026Article
- The role of traditional healers and barriers to collaboration with biomedical providers in mental health service delivery in Wakiso district, Uganda: a qualitative study.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Epilepsy-Related Misconceptions, Cultural Beliefs, and Their Impact on Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review.Cureus · 2025Review
- Article
- Assessing traditional medicine in the treatment of neurological disorders in Mali: prelude to efficient collaboration.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2024Article
- Attitudes and perceptions towards epilepsy in an onchocerciasis-endemic region of Tanzania: a mixed approach to determine the magnitude and driving factors.BMC public health · 2024Article
- "Trust in God, but tie your donkey": Holy water priest healers' views on collaboration with biomedical mental health services in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Transcultural psychiatry · 2024Article
- E = mcEpilepsia open · 2024Article
- Exploring South African Indian men's understanding of depression.The South African journal of psychiatry : SAJP : the journal of the Society of Psychiatrists of South Africa · 2024Article
- Conceptual framework to provide culturally congruent care to epilepsy patients in selected rural communities in South Africa.Health SA = SA Gesondheid · 2024Article
- Developing and Validating an Epilepsy Awareness and Education Program: Bridging Gaps in Knowledge and Support for People Living with Epilepsy and Their Families.Patient preference and adherence · 2024Article
- Integrating traditional and allopathic child health: A healthcare transformation opportunity.Health SA = SA Gesondheid · 2024Article
- Exploring Knowledge about Fang Traditional Medicine: An Informal Health Seeking Behaviour for Medical or Cultural Afflictions in Equatorial Guinea.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Diagnosis of Epilepsy by Traditional Healers and Its Implications on Management in the Selected Rural Communities of Limpopo and Mpumalanga Provinces: A Qualitative Study.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2023Article
- Views and experiences of traditional and Western medicine practitioners on potential collaboration in the care of people living with mental illness in Malawi.Malawi medical journal : the journal of Medical Association of Malawi · 2022Article
- Management of epilepsy through indigenous traditional and Western approaches in Africa: A systematic review.Health SA = SA Gesondheid · 2022Article
- Community perceptions and attitudes regarding epilepsy and disease cost after implementation of a community-based epilepsy treatment program in onchocerciasis-endemic communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo.Epilepsy & behavior : E&B · 2021Article
- Concepts, Beliefs, and Traditional Treatment for Childhood Seizures in a Quilombola Community in Northeastern Brazil: Analysis by the Discourse of the Collective Speech.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
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Abstract
The experience of epilepsy is profoundly culturally mediated and the meanings attributed to the condition can have a great impact on its social course. This qualitative study used Kleinman's Explanatory Model framework to explore traditional healers' perspectives on epilepsy in an urban township in Cape Town, South Africa. The healers who participated in the study were Xhosa-speaking, had experience caring for patients with epilepsy, and had not received any training on epilepsy. Six individual in-depth interviews and one focus group with nine traditional healers were conducted using a semi-structured interview guide. Traditional healers identified several different names referring to epilepsy. They explained epilepsy as a thing inside the body which is recognized by the way it presents itself during an epileptic seizure. According to these healers, epilepsy is difficult to understand because it is not easily detectable. Their biomedical explanations of the cause of epilepsy included, among others, lack of immunizations, child asphyxia, heredity, traumatic birth injuries and dehydration. These healers believed that epilepsy could be caused by amafufunyana (evil spirits) and that biomedical doctors could not treat the supernatural causes of epilepsy. However, the healers believed that western medicines, as well as traditional medicines, could be effective in treating the epileptic seizures. Traditional healers were supportive of collaboration with western-trained practitioners and highlighted that the strategy must have formal agreements in view of protection of intellectual property, accountability and respect of their indigenous knowledge. The findings suggest a need for interventions that promote cultural literacy among mental health practitioners. Research is urgently needed to assess the impact of such collaborations between biomedical services and traditional healers on epilepsy treatment and care.
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