Traditional healing and medicine in dementia care for Indigenous populations in North America, Australia, and New Zealand: a scoping review
Date
2021-07-12
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Abstract
Access to culturally-safe dementia assessment, diagnosis, and care in Indigenous populations
worldwide is an emerging challenge. In 2018, the World Health Organization recognized
traditional healers as stakeholders in dementia care and prevention. Traditional healers contribute
to dementia assessment, diagnosis, and care in unique ways, and play a catalytic role in the
process of culturally-safe dementia care planning and assessment with health care providers at
the community level. The purpose of this scoping review was to understand the roles and
experiences of traditional healers, to evaluate strategies for integration between Indigenous
traditional healing and western dementia care approaches, and to examine the policy barriers and
research gaps in North America (Canada and United States), Australia, and New Zealand. The
scoping review methodology used was the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) approach that included
six steps: protocol development based on participants, content and context framework,
development of a search strategy, selection of relevant studies, charting of relevant data,
synthesis, and reporting of results, and conducting stakeholder consultation. We searched
English literature in select bibliographic databases, including CINAHL, EMBASE, Medline and
PsycINFO. The initial search identified 516 papers published between 2000 and 2020 that met
the search criteria. After 164 duplicates were removed, we screened 352 titles and abstracts,
excluding the 209 that did not meet the inclusion criteria. Our second stage review of 143 fulltext studies resulted in the further exclusion of 141 studies. Only two studies from Canada
met all inclusion criteria for this scoping review and explored the potential integration of
traditional healing in dementia care and the roles and perceptions of traditional healers. The two
studies were conducted in Southwestern Ontario in an urban First Nations community and
Saskatchewan with Cree, Salteaux, and Metis populations in rural and remote communities. The
studies indicated that the inclusion of traditional healers, Elder knowledge-holders, Grandmother
groups, and emerging Indigenous scholars and researchers can contribute to building an
evidence-based dementia care decision-making process for Indigenous people with dementia.
Hence, integrating Indigenous traditional healing and medicine in dementia care is a path to
culturally-safe dementia care and social support systems for people with dementia
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Keywords
cultural safety, dementia care, Indigenous populations, integration, policy barrier, research gap, traditional healer