‘You Feel It in Your Body’: Narratives of Embodied Well-Being and Control among Women Who Use Complementary and Alternative Medicine during Pregnancy

McClean, Stuart; Mitchell, Mary

doi:10.3390/soc8020030

“…Mclean and Mitchell (2018) and Gale (2011) highlighted the notion of 'embodiment' in their studies on Traditional medicines. Mclean and Mitchell (2018) discuss embodiment in their narrativebased study on women who used Traditional medicine during pregnancy.…”

Section: 'Embodiment' Vs 'The Body'mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other articles using an interpretive paradigm were Gale et al's (2011) Mitchell's (2018) study uses a feminist theoretical framework to guide their research, which allowed issues to emerge that were not explicated in other studies, such as the fact that Traditional medicines offers a counterpoint to the patriarchal model of western medicine. This viewpoint was more apt to emerge in this study not just because the chosen population was pregnant women, but because narrative analysis was used.…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Traditional medicine in social work practice

Holoff¹

2021

Preprint

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This partial grounded theory study explores the topic of Traditional medicine in social work practice in Toronto, Canada. Given the dearth of knowledge in this area, I wanted to explore the contrapuntal nature of two social workers’ practice who refer to Traditional Medicine, and to conceptualize further on this approach. Social work literature and practice has paid little attention to this topic despite the field’s purported commitment to equity and social justice. This is largely a reflection of how greatly we take for granted the bias towards Western medicine in our public health care system and in the social work referral system that is aligned with it. The World Health Organization defines Traditional medicine as: “Health practices, approaches, knowledge, and beliefs incorporating plant, animal, and mineral based medicines, spiritual therapies, manual techniques, and exercises, applied singularly or in combination to treat, diagnose, and prevent illnesses or maintain well-being” (Fokunang et al., 2011). Such approaches, which are based on Indigenous and non-Western ways of knowing are not covered by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP), and thus remain largely inaccessible to the most financially marginalized. This is a problem for those who cannot afford to pay out of pocket for their health care. It is a grave disservice to those whose culture does not align with Western medicine; those whose health conditions have not been helped by Western medicine; and those who require a combination of Western and Traditional approaches to bring them to full health. This research explores the knowledge, experience, and processes of two social workers in Toronto who refer clients to Traditional medicine in spite of the structural bias towards Western medicine and its approaches. Key Words: Traditional medicine, social work practice, contrapuntal approach, decolonization, the Medicine Wheel, Toronto

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“…Mclean and Mitchell (2018) and Gale (2011) highlighted the notion of 'embodiment' in their studies on Traditional medicines. Mclean and Mitchell (2018) discuss embodiment in their narrativebased study on women who used Traditional medicine during pregnancy.…”

Section: 'Embodiment' Vs 'The Body'mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other articles using an interpretive paradigm were Gale et al's (2011) Mitchell's (2018) study uses a feminist theoretical framework to guide their research, which allowed issues to emerge that were not explicated in other studies, such as the fact that Traditional medicines offers a counterpoint to the patriarchal model of western medicine. This viewpoint was more apt to emerge in this study not just because the chosen population was pregnant women, but because narrative analysis was used.…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Traditional medicine in social work practice

Holoff¹

2021

Preprint

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This partial grounded theory study explores the topic of Traditional medicine in social work practice in Toronto, Canada. Given the dearth of knowledge in this area, I wanted to explore the contrapuntal nature of two social workers’ practice who refer to Traditional Medicine, and to conceptualize further on this approach. Social work literature and practice has paid little attention to this topic despite the field’s purported commitment to equity and social justice. This is largely a reflection of how greatly we take for granted the bias towards Western medicine in our public health care system and in the social work referral system that is aligned with it. The World Health Organization defines Traditional medicine as: “Health practices, approaches, knowledge, and beliefs incorporating plant, animal, and mineral based medicines, spiritual therapies, manual techniques, and exercises, applied singularly or in combination to treat, diagnose, and prevent illnesses or maintain well-being” (Fokunang et al., 2011). Such approaches, which are based on Indigenous and non-Western ways of knowing are not covered by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP), and thus remain largely inaccessible to the most financially marginalized. This is a problem for those who cannot afford to pay out of pocket for their health care. It is a grave disservice to those whose culture does not align with Western medicine; those whose health conditions have not been helped by Western medicine; and those who require a combination of Western and Traditional approaches to bring them to full health. This research explores the knowledge, experience, and processes of two social workers in Toronto who refer clients to Traditional medicine in spite of the structural bias towards Western medicine and its approaches. Key Words: Traditional medicine, social work practice, contrapuntal approach, decolonization, the Medicine Wheel, Toronto

show abstract