ArticleCulture, medicine and psychiatry2021
Traditional Healers and Mental Health in Nepal: A Scoping Review.
Article in Culture, medicine and psychiatry, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Effectiveness, barriers, and facilitators of interventions delivered by traditional healers for the treatment of common mental disorders: A systematic review.Transcultural psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Treatment Preferences for Pharmacological versus Psychological Interventions among Primary Care Providers in Nepal: Mixed Methods Analysis of a Pilot Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Trial
- Utilization of Local Healing Practices Among Patients Admitted to a Remote Tertiary Care Hospital in Eastern Bhutan: A Cross-Sectional Study.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Between Leaves, Prayers, and Healing Hands: A Cross-Regional Scoping Review of Ritual Healers and Plant-Based Community Knowledge.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Romantic Jealousy, Intimate Partner Violence, and Envy: An Ethnographic Study of Acid Attacks in Cambodia.Journal of interpersonal violence · 2026Article
- Facilitators in treatment pathways for depression or anxiety among adults in Nepal: a qualitative study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Treatment of depression by traditional faith healers in Nepal: A qualitative study.SSM. Mental health · 2025Article
- How drawing practice enhances distress tolerance in university students: the mediating roles of psychological resilience and self-disclosure.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- "The Mole on His Penis Lassos Her:" Cultural Understandings of Coercive Control and Emotional Abuse of Women in Cambodia.Violence against women · 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
- Reconsidering the Unwanted Sexual Touching of Boys by Adults: An Ethnographic Study in Rural Cambodia.Journal of interpersonal violence · 2023Article
- Development and functioning of the mobile app-based mh-GAP intervention guide in detection and treatment of people with mental health conditions in primary healthcare settings in Nepal.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2023Article
- Short Take: Lowering the Access Barriers to Ethnographic Methodology.Field methods · 2021Article
- Reassessing the Mental Health Treatment Gap: What Happens if We Include the Impact of Traditional Healing on Mental Illness?Community mental health journal · 2021Article
- Traditional and biomedical care pathways for mental well-being in rural Nepal.International journal of mental health systems · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Despite extensive ethnographic and qualitative research on traditional healers in Nepal, the role of traditional healers in relation to mental health has not been synthesized. We focused on the following clinically based research question, "What are the processes by which Nepali traditional healers address mental well-being?" We adopted a scoping review methodology to maximize the available literature base and conducted a modified thematic analysis rooted in grounded theory, ethnography, and phenomenology. We searched five databases using terms related to traditional healers and mental health. We contacted key authors and reviewed references for additional literature. Our scoping review yielded 86 eligible studies, 65 of which relied solely on classical qualitative study designs. The reviewed literature suggests that traditional healers use a wide range of interventions that utilize magico-religious explanatory models to invoke symbolic transference, manipulation of local illness narratives, roles, and relationships, cognitive restructuring, meaning-making, and catharsis. Traditional healers' perceived impact appears greatest for mild to moderate forms of psychological distress. However, the methodological and sample heterogeneity preclude uniform conclusions about traditional healing. Further research should employ methods which are both empirically sound and culturally adapted to explore the role of traditional healers in mental health.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.