Alternative and Complementary Medicine Commons^™

Illusion Or Ununderstood Reality: Spiritual Or Psychic Healing And Protection In Southern Madagascar, Henri Lucien Sandifer

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Far from the hospital room and its doctor, the medicine and philosophies of Lakazy and its Ombiasa pertain to a domain largely untouched by western logic and science. Their practices appear to be effective and unique enough to have survived the advent of compelling new theological and scientific belief systems and the vastly different perspectives on community health and stability which these systems have brought to Madagascar. The prime examples of these new arrivals are Christianity and modern medicine, respectively. Within and without their sacred space, the mission of the true Ombiasa is to support their community and for this …

Integrated Health Care Systems: A Holistic Approach To Medicine, Tatiana Kaehler

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper examines how the strengths of both allopathic and traditional medical systems are harnessed in integrated health care systems – a system which “consciously targets and harnesses people’s links with biodiversity for health care reasons” (Quansah, personal communication, July 1, 2013). It uses examples of integrated health care in Madagascar to prove that integrated health care systems offers health care in an affordable and accessible manner, while also promoting cultural sustainability and conservation of biodiversity. By recognizing and establishing integrated health care systems throughout the world, global health disparities can be addressed and various health goals can be accomplished.

Poverty, Wealth, And How Traditional Medicine Would Benefit The United States, Becky Darin Goldberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper seeks to discover and address the various reasons as to how traditional medicine, “the sum total of knowledge, skills and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures that are used to maintain health, as well as to prevent, diagnose, improve or treat physical and mental illnesses” (WHO 2013), would benefit the U.S. Within the United States, health disparities from race and geographic location are worsening, and traditional medicine could be a viable way of reversing this. Madagascar and the U.S. face similar issues within allopathic medicine such as distance to a doctor and …

Aboriginal And Non-Aboriginal Students Learn About Natural Health Products From Different Information Sources, Sarah O. Alkholy, Samiah N. Alqahtani, Audrey Cochrane, Maria Pontes Ferreira, Fidji Gendron

Nutrition and Food Science Faculty Research Publications

Natural health products (NHPs) include naturally derived botanical and nonbotanical products. Past research indicates a high prevalence of NHPs use amongst adults in the United States and Canada but does not clearly characterize NHPs use amongst students, ethnic variations of such use, or how users learn about NHPs. We hypothesize that there is a difference between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students in how they learn about NHPs. To investigate this question, we conducted a cross-sectional study at First Nations University of Canada and the University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, during the fall of 2011. Aboriginal (n=214) and non-Aboriginal (n=749) students participated …

Discrimination In Medical Settings And Attitudes Toward Complementary And Alternative Medicine: The Role Of Distrust In Conventional Providers, Tetyana Shippee, Carrie Henning-Smith, Nathan Shippee, Jessie Kemmick Pintor, Kathleen T. Call, Donna Mcalpine, Pamela Jo Johnson

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

This study examines the relationship between racial/ethnic discrimination in medical settings, distrust in conventional medicine, and attitudes toward complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) among a racially/ethnically diverse sample. We also investigate how this relationship differs by nativity. Data are from a 2008 statewide stratified sample of publicly insured adults in Minnesota (N=2,194). Discrimination was measured as self-reported unfair treatment in medical settings due to race, ethnicity, and/or nationality. Outcomes are trust in conventional providers/medicine and attitudes toward CAM modalities. Discrimination in medical settings was positively associated with 1) distrust in conventional providers and 2) favorable attitudes toward CAM. Foreign-born …

Cultivating Resistance: Food Justice In The Criminal Justice System, Caitlin M. Watkins

Pitzer Senior Theses

This Senior Thesis in Environmental Analysis seeks to explore the ways in which certain food-oriented programs for incarcerated women and women on parole critically resist the Prison Industrial Complex and the Industrial Food System by securing social and ecological equity through the acquisition of food justice. It focuses on three case studies: the Crossroads’ Meatless Mondays program, Fallen Fruit from Rising Women: A Crossroads Social Enterprise, and Cultivating Dreams Prison Garden Project: An Organic Garden for Women in Prison. Each project utilizes food as a tool to build community, provide valuable skill sets of cooking and gardening, and educate women …

Perceptions Of Herbal Remedies Among California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo Students, Maria Cacciatore, Kimmie Layland, Nicole Morrisey

Social Sciences

Many practitioners now recognize that herbal remedies can be an effective and natural alternative to the standard American, western biomedicine. The objective of our research project is to discover the perceptions about herbal remedies as alternative medicine among Cal Poly students. Specifically we ask, why are they chosen and how students gauge their effectiveness. We seek to see if students have experimented with these herbal remedies, why they chose this route for wellness, and how they value the use of herbal alternative. If we are successful in this project, we will have a greater understanding of how young educated adults …

Sanitation Infrastructure, Medicinal Plant Use And Diarrhea In Rural Costa Rican Communities, Travis Clifford Sondgerath

Open Access Theses

Diarrhea is estimated to be responsible for 3.3 million deaths a year and is particularly problematic in the developing world among children. The Millennium Development Goals established by the United Nations has set a goal of reducing mortality among children by two thirds during the new millennium. However due to the nature of diarrhea it is often difficult to study its patterns, distribution, and determinants.

This study presents an analysis of the relationship between diarrhea and sanitation infrastructure and medicinal plant use in 4 rural Costa Rican communities. Over the past few decades' access to clean drinking water and municipal …

Building A Strategic Framework For Comparative Effectiveness Research In Complementary And Integrative Medicine, Claudia M. Witt, Margaret Chesney, Richard Gliklich, Lawrence Green, George Lewith, Bryan Luce, Anne Mccaffrey, Shelly Rafferty Withers, Harold C. Sox, Sean Tunis, Brian M. Berman

Dartmouth Scholarship

The increasing burden of chronic diseases presents not only challenges to the knowledge and expertise of the professional medical community, but also highlights the need to improve the quality and relevance of clinical research in this domain. Many patients now turn to complementary and integrative medicine (CIM) to treat their chronic illnesses; however, there is very little evidence to guide their decision-making in usual care. The following research recommendations were derived from a CIM Stakeholder Symposium on Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER): (1) CER studies should be made a priority in this field; (2) stakeholders should be engaged at every stage …

Delivering Quality Care: The Roles And Future Of Midwives In Southern California, Abigail Jones

Scripps Senior Theses

The United States is ranked 27^th in the world for maternal mortality, yet spends twice as much on maternity care services as countries with better maternal health indicators. Stuck in a technocratic and physician-dominated maternity care system, the U.S. depends on expensive technologies to control birth out of fear of pain and litigation, costing Americans billions of dollars and depriving women of the opportunity to have a transformative birth experience. Through an analysis of the medicalization of birth and the current biomedical model in birth, in conjunction with open-ended interviews with 5 hospital midwives and 3 homebirth midwives, the …

Doulas Going Dutch: The Role Of Professional Labor Support In The Netherlands, Monica He

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study uses a mixed method approach and medicalization theory to explore the new role of professional doulas in the Netherlands through the perspectives of women who have had doula-attended births. Survey data from the Dutch doula association is first analyzed in order to quantify women’s experiences with doula care and characterize their demographic information and birth outcomes. Simulatenously, nine in-depth interviews are conducted with Dutch and non- Dutch mothers who have recently had doula-attended births. The interviews focus on experiences with doula care in the context of the Dutch maternity care system. Quantitative analysis finds women who had doulas …

La Medicina Tradicional Y La Medicina Moderna En Cusco, Katelyn Scott

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Cuando estaba tratando a escoger un tema para esta investigación encontré esta cita, “In the assessment of the World Health Organization (WHO), the majority of the population of most developing countries regularly use and rely on traditional medicine for their everyday healthcare needs[1]” (Bodeker 23). En hecho, WHO dice que casi 80% de la población de un país desarrollado todavía usa la medicina tradicional (Mendoza, 439). Estas citas me interesé y por eso decidí a investigar las perspectivas que las personas en Cusco tienen sobre la medicina tradicional y la medicina moderna. Quiera aprender si la medicina tradicional …

Healers And Researchers: Towards A More Balanced Relationship, Gracie Tewkesbury

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In my seminar paper, I discussed the benefits for both parties of collaboration between traditional healers and modern scientific researchers. If research is done on the medicinal effects of plants, these cures can be used more safely and effectively by members of the community. This relationship is greatly beneficial in theory, but the reality is less than ideal. Researchers, especially foreign ones, depreciate and exploit the knowledge of healers, and as a result, healers are often distrustful and unwilling to collaborate. The relationship between healers and researchers potentially holds the cures to countless diseases and can contribute directly to greater …

The Benefits Of Having An Integrated Health Care System In Madagascar, Elizabeth Miller

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

For my individual research, I wanted to look into all the benefits that could be offered by collaborating allopathic and traditional healthcare systems and how such a system is accomplished in Madagascar, in order to weigh and to discover the feasibility of using integrated healthcare systems as sustainable development in other parts of the world. Furthermore, as Madagascar sets the example in my research this summer, the use of traditional and modern medicine as an integrated health care system best serves the majority of the Malagasy population for several important reasons.

Challenges And Opportunities For Developing Countries From Medical Tourism, Avinash M. Waikar, Samuel D. Cappel, Uday S. Tate

Management Faculty Research

Wikipedia defines “Medical Tourism” as the act of traveling to other countries to obtain medical, dental and surgical care. Rapid expansion of facilities for patients abroad has helped to spur this industry’s growth. Regardless of the destination, U.S. citizens are increasingly embracing the benefits of medical tourism due to dramatically rising U.S. healthcare costs. Medical care in countries such as India, Mexico, Thailand and Singapore can cost as little as ten percent of the cost of comparable care in the U.S. for some procedures. Statistical analysis revealed the costs to be significantly lower for many of these countries. Currently, patients …

Patients' Perspectives On Discussing Complementary And Alternative Medicine Therapies With Conventional Doctors, Deborah A. Mcninch

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Currently, little is known about patients' perceptions and beliefs in discussing complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) with their conventional medical (CM) doctor. The purpose of this descriptive research was to show whether CAM-using patients have an interest in discussing CAM treatments with their CM doctor for comprehensive care as described by the health belief model (HBM) constructs of perceived susceptibility, perceived seriousness, and perceived benefits of taking action. A sample of 165 participants age 18 or older from 2 chiropractic clinics in the midwestern United States completed a Likert-scaled survey. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression …

Dr. Youtube Is Ready To See You Now! Health Benefits Of Medical Videos On Youtube, Jordan A. Rosenberg

CMC Senior Theses

Chapter 1 will cover who is uploading the videos and how individuals navigate from professional to amateur videos and visa versa. The discussion will be in context of YouTube as a public sharing space that can contain personal information. A central advantage of YouTube as a space for health information is health communication. Chapter 2 will focus on social networking and the comments section, where patients voluntarily share their voice in an online medical community.

Percepciones De Género En La Medicina Mapuche: Machi, Matriarca, Y Colonización, Krista Douglass

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Gender is a social ordering principle; a definition of masculinity and femininity according to an individual culture. While in Chile gender identity is often shaped by machismo, the Mapuche cosmovision is without gender disparities. Rather, relationships between men and women are governed by principles of equality and duality, just as the Mapuche deities balance both male and female energies. Women hold very important roles in the community as the leaders of the medical community. Although both men and women participate in various roles within this profession, machi, the spiritual healers, are mostly women. Males, or wentru machi, …

La Medicina Alternativa En Oaxaca: Su Coexistencia Con La Medicina Alópata, Katie Deeg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

En este ensayo exploro la coexistencia entre la medicina alternativa y la alópata en Oaxaca y determino que, dada la relevancia cultural de la medicina alternativa y el estatus deficiente de la salud y servicios médicos en el estado, la promoción de la medicina alternativa es importante para ayudar a la gente a alcanzar la mejor calidad posible de salud. Primero presento una definición de la medicina alternativa dentro del contexto de Oaxaca y describo su presencia en Oaxaca. Considerando la naturaleza de la coexistencia entre la medicina alternativa y alópata, presento mis descubrimientos sobre la importancia de usar los …

Lybarger, Shaunn Maree (Fa 115), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

"Menstruation: Childbirth and Child-rearing." Independent study compiled for a Western Kentucky University Folk Studies class. Utilizing existing Folklife Archives collections, Lybarger referenced beliefs, customs, and cures associated with fertility, families, child-rearing, and menstruation.

Health Care In Aymara Women In The North Of Chile, Rossana Testa Phd, Academic Director

Fostering Multicultural Competence and Global Justice: an SIT Symposium

Background: In Chile the most important indigenous population lives in a determined territory, we found Mapuche people in the south and the Aymara people in the north of the country. The majority of the indigenous people live in the urban zones. However, the indigenous people that live at the rural areas are who conserve their traditional medicine practices.

The region of Arica and Parinacota is the northern region of Chile and has the largest concentration of the Aymara indigenous group in all of Chile.

At the rural areas are the women whom most attended at the public health system, especially …

El Rol De La Partera En La Provincia De Parinacota, Liana Langdon-Embry

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

For centuries, the Aymaran people of the Parinacota Province in Northern Chile have been deeply committed to ancestral practices, where a Cosmo vision rears a connection between human beings, the natural environment, and the spiritual world. The Aymaran medicinal practices replicate this relationship, with the indigenous medicine man and midwives historically holding a central role in the natural healing of community members. This study describes the present-day role of Señora Fausta Pairo Mollo, the midwife in the altiplano region of Parinacota. In particular, it examines how her practices has been integrated into the official medical system, while also investigating how …

Bridging The Gaps: Biomedicine, Complementary And Alternative Medicine In A Holistic Approach, Hatim A. Omar, Joav Merrick

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

The 4^th international conference on holistic health and medicine was held during September 24-26, 2008 in Lexington, Kentucky in the United States of America. This conference brought many participants from 23 countries, both mainstream health care providers as well as holistic health practitioners to address the latest in knowledge and research, and in turn to find ways to collaborate and work together to provide the best possible care for their patients and clients. These conferences are held to build bridges between the various fractions of medicine and health care providers. The scientific program included plenary sessions, keynotes, workshops and …

Antibiotics, Herbs, And Magic: Health Practices In Contemporary St. Petersburg, Christine Shu

Honors Theses

In St. Petersburg, Russia, two seemingly conflicting health doctrines, western medicine and alternative medicine, play significant roles in residents' health culture. I define alternative medicine as all health practices that use such natural products as herbs, natural honey, water, seeds, berries, and even animal products, and as such unobtrusive body therapies as acupuncture, massage, yoga, or animal therapies. I define western medicine as all treatments that involve the manipulation of ingredients in a chemistry laboratory (such as antibiotics, antiviral drugs, antihistamines. or pain killers) and all body therapies intrusive to the body (such as operations). Through interviews with St. Petersburg …

Watkins, Dianne (Winkler), 1941-2024 (Fa 264), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 264. Paper: "Lamaze Method of Prepared Childbirth" written by Dianne (Winkler) Watkins for a Western Kentucky University folk studies class. Also, four pamphlets related to childbirth and parenting.

The Integration Of Traditional And Western Medicine In Ngaoundéré, Cameroon, Alison Hardy

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this study was to examine how patients in Ngaoundéré Cameroon integrate traditional and Western medicine, and how they perceive such integration on the part of their health care providers. Interviews were conducted with thirty-five patients of the Hôpital Provincial and of traditional medical practitioners in the neighbourhood of Yarmbang. Both modern and traditional health care providers were also interviewed. Patients generally believe that the two types of medicine have different strengths related to cost, accessibility, accuracy of diagnosis and treatment, ability to treat certain illnesses, and practitioners’ understanding of patients’ culture. Patients decide whether to use modern …

Positioning Hospice Care Within The Black And Hispanic Communities, Carol Armstrong

Graduate Theses

Nationally, hospice care and the signing of advance directives are underutilized by minority populations. Research on this phenomenon includes cultural differences, access to medical care and language barriers. A retrospective study of 1,817 closed patient charts from a local hospice was conducted to determine significant differences among the White, Black and Hispanic patient populations. The number of White patients admitted to both hospice homecare and to the hospice inpatient was significantly greater than the number of admissions of either the Black or Hispanic patients. There were no significant findings in the total number of services provided to each of the …

Healing Kentucky, Nancy Disher Baird

Library Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Faith As A Means Of Healing: Traditional Medicine And The Ethiopian Orthodox Church In And Around Lalibela, Lauren Anderson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper examines and explores the relationship between indigenous medical traditions in Ethiopia and the healing rituals of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The practices still upheld by the Church today are explored in depth as is the prevalence of debtera, church educated traditional healers in Ethiopia. The relationship between traditional and modern modes of medical treatment in Ethiopia is explored as well as the legitimacy of both church healing and alternative medicine worldwide. Present research into the benefits of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) including mind/body healing is also examined.

Alternative And Complementary Health Practices (Achp) Among Older Urban African Americans, Beverly Wolpert, Priscilla T. Ryder, Denise Orwig

Scholarship and Professional Work – COPHS

Slides from presentation at: The 135th APHA Annual Meeting & Exposition (November 3-7, 2007) of APHA