I thought I’d share a few things I’ve been reading lately. Up first, Our Culture Is Our Medicine: Perspectives of Native Healers on Posttrauma Recovery Among American Indian and Alaska Native Patients. Published in the Winter 2012 edition of the Permanente Journal (Vol 16, no. 1), you can read the abstract after the jump, or download the PDF for free.
Abstract:
American Indian and Alaska Native (Native) people experience more traumatic events and are at higher risk for developing posttraumatic stress disorder compared with the general population. We conducted in-depth interviews with six Native healers about their perspectives on traumatic injury and healing. We analyzed the interviews using an inductive approach to identify common themes. We categorized these themes into four categories: causes and consequences of traumatic injury, risk factors, protective factors, and barriers to care. The implications of our study include a need for improving cultural competence among health care and social services personnel working with Native trauma patients. Additional cumulative analyses of Native healers and trauma patients would contribute to a much-needed body of knowledge on improving recovery and promoting healing among Native trauma patients.