Building resilience through healing communities
- Author: mycolabadmin
- 3/19/2024
- View Source
Summary
This editorial reviews innovative approaches to mental health care in low- and middle-income countries that blend local healing practices with modern psychiatric treatments. Instead of imposing Western medical models, these programs work with communities to develop culturally appropriate solutions that reduce stigma and improve access to care. Examples include combining spiritual healing traditions with psychiatric care in Ethiopia, using psychedelic-assisted therapy informed by historical trauma in Jamaica, and employing creative arts and mindfulness methods as accessible treatments.
Background
This editorial addresses global health initiatives aimed at reducing mental health burden in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The focus is on structural, relational, systemic and therapeutic alternatives that are grounded in task sharing and task shifting approaches, informed by interdisciplinary collaborations and ethnographic understanding.
Objective
To highlight the importance of integrating social and cultural perspectives in both individual and community mental health engagement across LMICs. The editorial synthesizes pilot studies that demonstrate how local solutions and community partnerships can strengthen mental health resilience and service accessibility.
Results
Studies demonstrate reduced stigma and increased psychiatric referrals in Ethiopia, improved parental mental health literacy in Ethiopia/Kenya/Democratic Republic of Congo, successful integration of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy with psycho-historiographic methods in Jamaica, and progressive community mental health resource development in Qatar.
Conclusion
Local communities, regions, and cultural contexts provide unique solutions to address unmet LMIC mental health needs. Creative collaboration and ongoing refinement of culturally adapted best practices are essential for effective mental health policy development and advancement of human rights agendas.
- Published in:Frontiers in Psychiatry,
- Study Type:Editorial/Literature Review,
- Source: PMID: 38566956, DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1395869