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Traditional healers and mental illness in Uganda

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Emilio Ovuga ,
Jed Boardman  and
Elizabeth G. A. O. Oluka
Emilio Ovuga
Affiliation:
Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
Jed Boardman*
Affiliation:
Academic Department of Psychiatry, The Guy's King's College and St Thomas' Hospitals' Medicine and Dental School Guy's Campus, 5th Floor, Thomas Guy House, Guy's Hospital, London SE1 9RT
Elizabeth G. A. O. Oluka
Affiliation:
School of Public Health Nursing, Mulago Hospital, Kampala, Uganda
*
∗Correspondence
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Abstract

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Aims and method

A cross-sectional, interview survey of the beliefs, knowledge, attitudes and practice towards mental illness of 29 traditional healers in the Pallisa district of Uganda was carried out.

Results

Many of the healers had experienced emotional problems that had been treated by other healers. Almost all had a family member who was also a traditional healer. They treated a wide range of conditions and all dealt with mental illness. Most believed that mental disorders were caused by supernatural processes. Many recognised the role of environmental agents. Their diagnosis and management of mental illness was eclectic. The healers were either traditional herbalists or spirit diviners or a mixture of both. Almost all referred patients to the district hospitals and were willing to work with government health services.

Clinical implications

The results of the survey suggest the presence of fertile ground on which to build cooperation between traditional healers and medical services. Such cooperation may harness primary care resources more effectively. Sequential or simultaneous models of collaboration (or combinations of both) may be considered. Further work on specific treatments, their outcomes and the evaluation of collaborative models is needed.

Type
Original papers
Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 23 , Issue 5 , May 1999 , pp. 276 - 279
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

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