The African Belief System and the Patient’s Choice of Treatment from Existing Health Models: The Case of Ghana

Abstract

This paper presents a narrative review including a case study of the African Belief System. A strong belief in supernatural powers is deeply rooted in the African culture. In Ghana, there is a spiritual involvement in the treatment of illness and healthcare. The new health model in the African culture therefore can be considered to be the Biopsychosocial(s) model-with the s representing spiritual practice-compared to the biopsychosocial model in Western culture. The case study on dissociative amnesia illustrates that Africans consider spiritual causes of illness when a diagnosis of an illness is very challenging. The causes of mental health conditions in particular seem challenging to Africans, and therefore are easily attributed to spiritual powers. The spiritual belief in African clients should not be rejected but should be used by caregivers to guide and facilitate clients’ recovery from illness. The spiritual belief provides hope. Therefore when combined with Western treatment, this belief can quicken illness recovery.