The promotion of traditional medicine as enactment of community psychology in Ghana

Abstract

Traditional medicine (TRM) and traditional healers, embedded within specific thoughts about cosmology, spirituality, and community, occupy a marginal status in African societies like Ghana. Colonialism, the ongoing dominance of the biomedical orientation postindependence, and the encroaching influences of globalization continue to limit the formalization and official recognition of TRM. In this article, we trace the position of TRM from colonial to contemporary times and describe an advocacy initiative, as an enactment of community psychology. The enactment, aimed at promoting and supporting the formal integration of TRM into primary healthcare services in Ghana, resonates with community psychology's accent on social justice, empowerment, collaboration, empirical grounding, and community mobilization. By way of reflections, we elucidate on a few successes and challenges of our advocacy work, and conclude by observing the importance of vigilance and reflexivity in the enactment of community psychology. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.