ArticleBMC complementary and alternative medicine2018
Exploring mental health practice among Traditional health practitioners: a qualitative study in rural Kenya.
Article in BMC complementary and alternative medicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Health Professionals' Attitudes Towards Traditional Healing for Mental Illness: A Systematic Review.International journal of mental health nursing · 2025Pooled it
- Pathways to mental health services across local health systems in sub-Saharan Africa: Findings from a systematic review.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Factors influencing referral pathways and collaboration between traditional and mental health practitioners in Sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Review
- Adverse childhood experiences, positive childhood experiences, suicidal thoughts or behaviors and psychological distress among Kenyan youth-an exploratory analysis of the 2019 Kenya Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS).Child abuse & neglect · 2025Article
- Article
- Cross-Cultural Patient Counseling and Communication in the Integrative Medicine Setting: Respecting the Patient's Health Belief Model of Care.Current psychiatry reports · 2024Review
- Article
- Health professionals' attitudes towards traditional healing for mental illness: A systematic review protocol.PloS one · 2024Article
- Local knowledge, practices, challenges of ethnopharmacologically used medicinal plants in Benin and implications for brain illnesses.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Social interactions within the Sudanese healthcare system: traditional healers and psychiatrists.BJPsych international · 2023Article
- Mental health challenges and perceived risks among female sex Workers in Nairobi, Kenya.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Adolescent Health Series: The status of adolescent mental health research, practice and policy in sub-Saharan Africa: A narrative review.Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH · 2022Review
- Contextualizing and pilot testing the Mental Health Gap Action Programme Intervention Guide (mhGAP-IG) to primary healthcare workers in Kilifi, Kenya.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundInvolvement of traditional health practitioners (THPs) in the form of collaboration with the formal health care system is suggested to improve the pathways to mental health care in Kenya, yet understanding of the current traditional practice and THPs' perspectives is lacking. The aim of this study was to explore the views of THPs with respect to their mental health practice.
methodsThis study qualitatively explored the views of THPs, using four focus group discussions (FDGs) each consisting of 8-10 traditional and faith healers, resulting in a total of 36 participants. Thematic content analysis using a grounded theory approach was performed using QSR NVivo 10. Emerging topics were identified and examined by re-reading the transcripts several times and constantly re-sorting the material.
resultsFour themes that reflect THPs' mental health practice perspectives emerged as follows: 1) Categorization of mental illness; 2) Diagnostics in traditional mental health practice; 3) Treatments and challenges in current traditional mental health practice; and 4) Solutions to improve traditional mental health practice.
conclusionsThese themes provide insight into the perspectives of Kenyan traditional and faith healers on their mental health practice, in an attempt to offer a meaningful contribution to the debate on collaboration between informal and formal health care providers in improving mental health services in Kenya. Furthermore, the presented challenges and solutions can inform policy makers in their task to improve and scale up mental health services in resource-poor areas in Kenya. Addressing these issues would be a first step towards understanding the solid foundation of traditional medicine that is necessary before collaboration can be successfully attempted. Further research is also recommended to assess patients' needs and explore potential forms of collaboration, in order to achieve sustainable improvement in the mental health care pathways for patients.
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