Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Alternative medicine healing'

Combining the use of alternative and complementary therapies and orthodox medicine is an increasing phenomenon. This thesis examines the implications of mixing and matching plural healing modalities against a backdrop of patient and practitioner responsibilities. From an anthropological perspective, the predominant use of qualitative methodology is an integral part of this research project. Central to this study is the views of a variety of participant categories - patients who use both alternative and orthodox healing methods; non-medical alternative and complementary practitioners; medical doctors who integrate orthodox and CAM therapies into their daily practise; and orthodox general practitioners. Interviews with these participants took place over an eighteen-month timeframe and involved face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews, and focus group research. Social constructionist theory, which forms part of the compendium of interpretive theoretical approaches adopted under the medical anthropology paradigm, has been used in order to expose the beliefs patients and practitioners hold about their own responsibilities, and those of the other participant categories. This study reveals a palimpsest of complex, contradictory and competing discourses in relation to patient and practitioner expectations and responsibilities. One important finding relates to the significance of neo-liberal and individualistic ideologies. This thesis concludes that the rhetoric from complementary and alternative practitioners, and their integrative colleagues, is heavily imbued with ideas about self-responsibility, particularly in relation to patient lifestyle choices and therapeutic compliance. Patients and orthodox general practitioners share some of these views but in general adopt a more collective approach to health care responsibilities. While patients are prepared to accept some responsibility for their illnesses and health keeping practises, they express strong reliance towards the orthodox health model as well as those doctors who practise integrative medicine. However the same cannot be said of their attitudes towards CAM modalities where considerable ambivalence is evident towards both practitioners and the therapies themselves. The role of the state, and its responsibilities for the structure of the health care system in New Zealand, is also clearly influential in the construction of belief systems. This is especially so because the rhetoric underlying neo-liberal and individualistic discourses now permeates the direction of health policies. Increasing levels of surveillance, both at bureaucratic and individual levels, also attests to the influence of neo-liberalism and individualism. This study exposes the tensions between the rhetoric of self-responsibility and the lived experiences of patients and health practitioners, which in many cases is more collective in its focus than is initially apparent.

The increasing popularity of integrative medicine requires that we understand the meaning that patients attribute to their treatment experience. This project was a phenomenological study that sought to understand how nine chronically ill patients perceived their experience of living with illnesses and the treatment process at the integrative clinic. My findings reveal that their illnesses disrupted their life and were a threat to their self. An impetus combined with the influence of the social sphere led patients to join the clinic. The relationship with caregivers at the clinic was an important component of the treatment process and provided participants with the knowledge necessary to manage their illnesses. The positive interaction with caregivers enhanced patient empowerment and improved patient participation. Following treatments at the clinic, the majority of participants felt that their health had improved and that they had returned to their old self. Many had set future goals.

Healing touch is a holistic healing modality, grounded in nursing theory and process used to facilitate relaxation and self- healing through the practitioner’s heart centered care and use of their hands to balance the patient’s energy fields. It is not a widely implemented practice by nurses; less than one percent of the nurses in the United States are certified practitioners. This study was performed in an attempt to learn why more nurses are not informed about the practice, to educate nurses about the evidence supporting HT and to identify the barriers to practice.

This pilot study assessed nurses’ knowledge, attitudes and experience with Healing Touch and evaluated the efficacy of viewing an educational video about Healing Touch and the evidence supporting its use, to consider changing their practice to include Healing Touch techniques. The objective of the educational program was to (a) provide an overview of the theoretical basis, scientific data, applications, and nursing implications for Healing Touch; (b) position Healing Touch as an evidence-based nursing intervention that is consistent with the recommendations of Institute of Medicine and (IOM) American Nurses’ Association (ANA) to implement evidence-based practice (EBP) that promote healing of the self and others and 2) incorporate mind, spirit and technology into nursing practice.

This essay is about the worldview of Swedish people, who experienced healing. I presumed that concepts, which underpin healing phenomena and thereby express the healer’s worldview, could differ from many people’s concepts and worldviews. The question was, if people with a different worldview attended a healing session and experienced positive results for their health, would that give them reasons to reconsider their worldview? Four people were chosen for this research, who had experienced healing and were willing to talk about it. Based on a participating observation, I describe a personal and their healing session, to create an understanding of their experience. Moreover, the healing method Laying on of Hands, which is used during these sessions is described. With the following in-depth interviews, I documented the worldview history of the interviewees, with focus on religious aspects, and compared it with their worldviews after they were convinced, that healing was working for them. In the analysis, coping theory was applied, to describe processes around the healing, which possibly contributed to the change in the patient’s worldview. The results showed a connection between the patient’s goal to regain health and the acceptance of new concepts in their worldview.

The main claim of this dissertation is that practices of sound healing are driven by a skepticism towards how conventional medicine conceptualizes and treats the body. Therefore, sound healing in thought and practice may be seen as revolving around an implicit desire to redefine the body, health, and listening. I refer to this as “negating the biomedical body” and show how it is underscored by frequent recourse to medical concepts adopted from complementary and alternative medicine. This dissertation illustrates how practitioners’ negating of the biomedical body as well as their deeply embodied conception of listening and sound bear surprising consistency across a variety of sound healing practices. In this sense, sound healing is caught up in changing values regarding health, medicine, and healthcare delivery in the contemporary west. Notwithstanding its antithetical stance, however, sound healing can also be further understood when its dialectical relation to science and medicine is considered. In practice this unstable and problematic relationship is most pronounced in the contradiction between practitioners’ negating of the biomedical body (rooted in embodiment and indeterminacy) and popular appeals to science (rooted in representation and objectification). Ultimately, I argue that in lieu of recognition from established medicine, a distinguishing role for sound healing rests on resolving this dialectical tension. This it accomplishes through the formulation of a new vernacular— hinging on terms such as “vibration,” “frequency,” and “resonance”—and a privileging of the body’s immaterial and energetic dimensions (a process I term the “naturalization of energy”). I suggest that one outcome of this dialectic is the new “body-as-vibration,” a conceptual model of the body that is believed to be amenable to science but that still preserves sound healers’ need to formulate a new epistemology for the body and health.

Although most “alternative” medical practices have existed far longer than conventional healthcare, modern allopathic continues to be the dominant system of medicine used in the United States. Herbal medicine is one of the oldest healing practices known to humankind and continues to be practiced today despite the numerous challenges modern society poses. As Julie Stone and Joan Mathews illuminate in Complimentary Medicine and the Law, “Plant-based remedies have been the principal source of medicines in healing traditions around the world and, as the World health Organization is at pains to remind us, 80 percent of the world’s population still depends primarily on plant medicine." Another statistic cited by Larry Dossey in Reinventing Medicine illustrates, “…researchers have found that adverse reactions to drugs kill over 100,000 people a year in US hospitals. That is the equivalent of a passenger jet crashing everyday. If this level of death were seen in any other field, it would probably be considered a national scandal." These facts reveal that American citizens have come to believe in a form of healthcare that is not widely accepted by the rest of the world, and that has some surprisingly dangerous characteristics hidden within. The question thus arises as to why biomedicine continues to be the standard form of healthcare in the US, and why alternative forms of medicine are devalued and failed to be justifiably recognized and incorporated into treatment strategies.

During the recent exponential rise in the use of alternative medicines (AM) in the West and increasing integration into the health service, little research has been done on AM in the context in which it is practised, or over time to look at changing belief systems. This thesis provides an anthropologically informed analysis of one alternative therapy in depth - homeopathy- explored from the multiple perspectives of biomedical and lay homeopaths, users and students of homeopathy. The ethnography comprised 18 months participant observation in 4 settings in south London: the surgery of a homeopathic GP; a homeopathy adult education class; a vaccination support group; and a low cost homeopathy clinic for victims of crime. The fieldwork is contextualised by a critique of the existing research on users of AM; a review of the history and politics of integration of AM and a review of anthropological conceptions of the body and health. Analysis of the empirical data reveals different groups of users of homeopathy with differing beliefs around health, healing and the body. 'Pragmatic users' had a normative biomedical view of health. 'Committed users' moved away from the normative biomedical position and were enculturated into a different view of health and the body through interaction with lay homeopaths. Inherent in these practitioners' and users' beliefs and practices were a number of oppositions to science-based medicine. Prolonged fieldwork enabled the changing views of users to be charted as they moved from biomedical to alternative views. The medical homeopath stayed allied to many biomedical beliefs about the body and health, partly as a result of general practice constraints of time, colleagues and training. Tensions between his biomedical and homeopathic practice lead to paradoxical behaviours that confused his patients. These findings problematise the notion of integration, of trying to incorporate two opposing ideologies into one system. Implications for alternative medicine more widely are discussed.

This dissertation research investigated the experience and the transformational impact of the Person-Centered Soul Retrieval (PCSR) shamanic healing method of Shaman Ross Bishop on personal healing and transformation. PCSR is 1 intervention in a larger shamanic healing process which was modified from Mayan shamanism specifically for use in the United States and potentially for use in other Western societies. The intended result of the shamanic healing is transformation of the self towards wholeness, or integration of the inner parts of an individual, which is a goal inherent to transpersonal psychology. The potential for the use of this shamanic healing process in psychotherapy today is promising, yet evidence for its efficacy and impact was only anecdotal. The purpose of this study then, was to describe, analyze, and interpret the experience and the transformational impact of the specific process of PCSR, 1 aspect of the larger healing system. The current research used a case study method appropriate for exploratory and descriptive research. Based on the logic of replication, a multiple case study design with 5 independent cases was conducted. Participants received the PSCR intervention in 1 or more sessions, the number of which depended on participants’ individual therapeutic needs. Multiple sources of data included transcripts of all intervention sessions; session notes taken during each session; semistructured participant journal entries after each session, as well as at the end of the treatment cycle; and transcripts of a semistructured final interview with the participants. Data analysis included thematic content analysis with an inductive process to identify themes, as well as to discover descriptive evidence for themes. Pattern matching was used within each case, then aggregated across cases in a cross-case analysis. Results of all 5 of the individual cases and cross-case analyses support the efficacy of the PCSR intervention by demonstrating a significant transformative impact on all participants in emotional, cognitive, and/or behavioral areas.

This dissertation examines the processes of healing and transformation experienced by persons in the Cuban American, white, middle class Orisha worship community in Miami, FL, focusing on all the areas in which healing can take place. Orisha worship uses a holistic approach to health, in which physical, mental and spiritual illnesses may be healed. In the process of healing, persons embody the discourse of mastery and enslavement and the social processes of this Orisha worship community, via religious rituals, and exist in relation to Orishas. My research question focuses on how people in the Orisha worship community of Miami who are ill seek embodied healing and advice from orishas who are not ill and have the power to heal them. My data was gathered using questionnaires for direct interviews, and observations during religious rituals including ceremonies (both public and private), drummings and Ocha birthday parties. I also draw on my personal experiences and initiation onto the Orisha worship community. My overall findings indicate that there are a variety of modalities of healing in Orisha worship, each with the aim of manipulating ashe, the divine force in Orisha worship. People take an active role in changing their illnesses by performing ebos; or by becoming initiated in Orisha worship through receiving collares, guerreros or making Ocha; or via the healing and transformative effects of spirit possession. People are agents of change that seek to ameliorate their symptomology by invoking and employing the spiritual world. My research contributes to the Anthropological literature on embodiment, personhood and healing.

This thesis focuses on the socio-cultural and anthropological aspects of Tibetan medicine in contemporary Russia and investigates how Tibetan medicine is practised, consumed and represented in two major Russian cities, Moscow and St Petersburg. It is the first case-study of such kind in the context of Russian culture, as the anthropological aspects of Tibetan medicine in contemporary Russia have not yet been the subject of a systematic research. Up till now, scholarly publications on Tibetan medicine in Russia have dealt either with the translation and textual analysis of ancient Tibetan medical treatises or with the history of the first appearance of Tibetan medicine in Buriatia, the traditionally Buddhist region of Russia, and St Petersburg / Petrograd, paying little attention to contemporary developments and, most importantly, ignoring how Tibetan practitioners and their patients are making sense of Tibetan medicine. Based on twenty four interviews with practitioners and consumers of Tibetan medicine in the two Russian capitals, my research fills in this lacuna by looking at personal experiences, perceptions and accounts of my interviewees and exploring how they adapt Tibetan medicine to their skills, beliefs and ideas. My approach to sources is informed by Iurii Lotman's theory of intercultural communication. Although this theory was developed by Lotman for the analyses of the processes of cultural reception of literary texts, it is also relevant, with some modifications, for the analysis of the process of reception of non-textual cultural forms. The analysis of data collected from interviews with doctors and patients and the textual analysis of media, cinematic and literary sources has revealed two dominant trends and representational techniques. The first trend amounts to representing Tibetan medicine as unique and exotic, while the second trend amounts to the conceiving of Tibetan medicine as Russia's indigenous tradition, a part of Russian history, which had been subverted and suppressed in the Soviet period, yet rediscovered post-1991. Thus, we see here a co-existence of the inter-cultural dialogue between Russian culture and an exotic 'other' and the intra-cultural dialogue with a recently rediscovered part of 'self'. Both trends, which, at first glance, might appear to stand in contradiction to each other, sometimes coexist within a single explanatory narrative. The thesis also focuses on inter-cultural interactions between doctors and patients. It is argued that these interactions take place in the context of a noteworthy sociological and cultural phenomenon that the thesis calls 'mutual counter-adaptation'. Mutual counter-adaptation is the key mechanism used, consciously or spontaneously, by Tibetan doctors and their patients in order to facilitate the process of understanding between the parties involved in an inter-cultural dialogue around Tibetan medicine. The thesis finally reveals how this mutual counter-adaption takes place within a wider Russian cultural and media environment which exploits a set of specific symbols and images in order to make Tibetan medicine comprehensible and attractive to the wider Russian public.

This dissertation explores entanglements of body, national identity and nature in contemporary Mongolia. The project is situated within the rising popularity of natural remedies and alternative medicine during a time described as disorganized (zambaraagui) and disorderly. Data was collected from 33 months of fieldwork in Ulaanbaatar and elsewhere, focused on non-biomedical practices and therapeutic landscapes, especially medicinal springs (arshaan) and their sanatoria. This work contributes to studies of post-socialist Mongolia in a few ways. The methodological decision to engage in interview and participant observation of fortunetellers (üzmerch), practitioners of Buddhist and traditional medicine (otoch, ardiin emch), astrologists (zurhaich), energy healers (bio energich), shamans (böö, zairan, udgan), enlightened lamas (huvilgaan) and massage therapists (bariach) was driven by the fluid approach with which patients approach fulfilling the needs of their health and wellbeing. Such fluidity was also echoed in healing practice; as opposed to bounded by strict conceptual distinctions, healers re-purposed personally and culturally-familiar techniques, ranging from biomedical to those of Buddhist medicine (sowa rigpa) to occult practices. Many of the same techniques were practiced by a range of practitioners. The term orthopraxy, commonality of practice across conceptual difference, is used to address this phenomena. Such pairing together of different kinds of therapies – biomedical or otherwise – calls into question a “traditional” vs. modern or neo-spiritual framework within which such practices are often cast. I employ Robbin’s anthropology of discontinuity (2003), suggesting that Soviet influences represented “hard” cultural forms that provided a partial rupture in cultural knowledge between pre-revolutionary society and 1990. Nature (baigal) and natural surroundings (baigal orchin) were concepts often raised when discussing health and wellbeing. “Spiritual” earth and mountain masters (gazariin/uuliin ezed) of estranged homelands (nutag) that cause illness in families relocated to Ulaanbaatar; the water, flora, and mutton from one’s homeland as especially medicinally-suited to the body; shamans empowered to heal by appropriating into their practices the worship of nationally-significant mountains: territorialized national identity represented a prominent trend in healing practices. The revering of a nation through natural landmarks I call national nature, and suggest it be seen both with respect to romantic and utilitarian conceptions of a therapeutic nature that underpinned Soviet medicine, and Soviet indigenization campaigns and the ethnonationalism that was encouraged to flourish in borderland republics. Affective rooting to natural landmarks to maintain or restore wellbeing was also a way to enact Mongol-ness, rendering healing the body at once a practice of national subject-making.

Background: One in five households has a child with special health care needs (SHCN). Such parents report poorer mental health, greater depressive symptoms, and more restrictions in instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). The quality of mental and physical health of all family members' continuingly declines. Objectives: To evaluate the effects of the current ITK Healing Retreat Week program on familial well-being via introduction of CAM methods through assessment of 1) mood based on affect 2) self-efficacy 3) changes in coping skills 4) growth over time in parents/caregivers who have children with SHCN. Methods: A secondary analysis of data from sixteen parents/caregivers who participated in the ITK Healing Retreat Week July 13-19, 2014. Scores from Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) with Serenity subscale, Post Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), and Self-Efficacy Scale (SES) were analyzed using SPSS. Content analysis was performed on open-ended questions from post, three and six-month post retreat questionnaires. Results: Before to immediately after the retreat week there was a statistically significant decrease in negative emotions and increase in positive mood state, ability to feel calm/at peace, relate to others, see new possibilities, and confidence in ability to perform certain care needs (<.001). From post to three-month post retreat the families' confidence in ability to perform certain care needs did not change (<.001), but declined from three to six month post retreat in a statistically significant manner (.044). Content analysis indicated that the biggest benefit for the families was being in a supportive community and having an increase in positive emotional states. At six-months post retreat an increase in receptivity was additionally reported. Conclusion: The ITK Healing Retreat Week program positively impacted families who have children with SHCN in multiple positive ways: increased mood, more confidence, ability to relate better to others and ability to see new possibilities. In effort to make this program generalizable or even replicable, further research needs to be done on the mechanism of change, the structure that creates this change, and how to make such a change sustainable by investigating a new retreat format and alternative research tools, questions, and scales.

This thesis analyse how life-histories are expressed and reformulated in connection to a life crisis of ill health. The study is based on ten interviews with people who in connection with ill health have made use of treatments within both orthodox medicine and complementary medicine and who have also developed various forms of self-treatment. The overall aim is, with a point of departure in the concepts health, healing and trust, to analyse narratives as a practice through which the respondents create identity and a life-context. The signifi cance of constructing the (auto)biography of the healing narrative – a form of narrative and performative act – runs as the main thread through the thesis. This act makes up the practice that is recurrently discussed in several of the thesis’ chapters and is synonymously termed the telling of healing narratives or or to narrate health and healing. The analysis of the narrative’s The analysis of the narrative’s healing main themes is mirrored in the order of the chapters. The study is broadly thematic and structured as a generalised healing process beginning with upheaval, continuing with crisis and social drama, and further to the endeavour of expressing values and judgements in a public context.

The interview themes of self-treatment and alternative treatment have occasioned the investigation into what an ethno-medical perspective can bring to analyses of people’s experiences of ill health in an everyday medical context. One of the points of having the concept ethno-medicine as a starting point is that every practice or narrative formation is ascribed with a potential for interpretation in its creation of knowledge. Another chapter deals with two themes of identity and life-history construction in the practice of healing narratives – the need for a chronology and reappraised perspectives on body, health and lifestyle. Healing narratives can be understood as a genre of life-historical narratives where life is often described as a linear course of events. A model by the anthropologist Victor Turner on the course and content of social drama is used as a comment to analyses of three respondents’ narratives in another chapter. A drama can be understood as a tragic course of events, based on an accident or an upsetting incident that roughly revolves around event/crisis, chaos and the striving for restoration. The concept of other journals is then used to make visible the everyday medical administrative practice and refers to the documentation used in the form of collected documents, written notes, and diaries. As an unexpected part of healing processes, the necessity of familiarising oneself with rules, laws and health insurance systems in order to be able to claim one’s rights is brought forward.

The social transformation process of various care practices in society makes up both a context and a commonly occurring theme in the narratives that the thesis is based upon. A modern health culture that gains strength from loosely composed social movements exerts infl uence on all levels of society. With an increased individual responsibility, the need grows to fi nd one’s own healing strategies and to create one’s own life-history in narratives that mirror this transformation in an everyday context. Healing narratives can be seen as a form of evaluation of health-care practices where experiences of treatment and notions of health and cure and healing are concretised.

Die Schulmedizin ist zwar das offizielle und anerkannte Gesundheitssystem in Tunesien, jedoch findet der Beobachter zahlreiche traditionelle und moderne alternative Heilmethoden, die miteinander koexistieren. Dazu gehört die spirituelle Heilung bzw. die tibb ruhani, die im letzten Jahrzehnt zunehmend eine zentrale Stellung im „health seeking behavior“ der Jugendlichen eingenommen hat. Viele der älteren Heilpraktiken standen in der Öffentlichkeit im Schatten der Schulmedizin und des offiziellen Islam. Dabei spielte der Bezug auf die religiösen Texte und die übernatürliche Welt und ihre Kräfte sowie auf die traditionelle Medizin eine wichtige Rolle. Meine zehnmonatige Feldforschung bzw. meine Interviews mit den Jugendlichen zeigen die Bedeutung der spirituellen Heilung für diese Altersgruppe, die Heilung von ihren Krankheiten und Lösung für ihre sozialen Konflikte und Probleme sucht. Auch die Medien richten heute mehr Interesse auf diesen Bereich, in dem sie eher kritische Artikel darüber veröffentlichen und die Werbung der Heiler publizieren. Diese Ambivalenz zeigt, dass der Umgang mit der spirituellen Heilung in der Öffentlichkeit einen interessanten Wandel erlebt. Die Bedeutung der traditionellen Medizin und der volksislamischen Heilpraktiken war zwar immer in der Gesellschaft verankert, blieb allerdings bis jetzt nur im Hintergrund. Eine Transformation und eine öffentliche Anerkennung erhalten sie erst durch die moderne spirituelle Heilung. Die mediale Präsenz der spirituellen Heilung zeigt, dass Krankheit und soziale Konflikte nicht mehr als lediglich die Privatsphäre betreffen. Dies impliziert eine staatliche Strategie als eine Art Sicherheitsventil für die sozio-wirtschaftlichen Probleme vor allem der Jugendlichen (Arbeitslosigkeit, Perspektivlosigkeit, Migrationswunsch) und ebenso gegenüber dem politischen Islam. Abschließend ist die spirituelle Heilung ein fester Bestandteil des medizinischen Pluralismus in Tunesien geworden und es bestehen Bestrebungen, mit der Schulmedizin zu kooperieren.
In addition to modern medicine, traditional medicine plays an important role in the medical system of Tunisia. There are different healing methods which characterize the medical landscape of the country and they coexist in an interesting way. This variety has a remarkable impact on the health seeking behavior of the Tunisians and especially of the younger generations (17-30), who have become increasingly interested in spiritual healing (tibb ruhani). This healing method deals with illnesses including modern methods of treatment and, additionally, it focuses on a number of issues and problems which concern this age group such as social conflicts, unemployment and migration. The image of spiritual healing has changed considerably over the past ten years. This transformation has led to a new understanding of illness and healing and to the development of new strategies regarding the health seeking behavior. Spiritual healing is based, on the one hand, on religious texts, the supernatural world and its agents and, on the other hand, on traditional healing methods and modern medicine. Up to recently, the traditional healing methods only played a marginal role in the medical system and they were hardly attractive to the young generations. My fieldwork, however, clearly shows that spiritual healing has deeply aroused the interest of this age group and, at the same time, it has met with public recognition. The mass media have also become interested in the phenomenon of spiritual healing and are publishing increasing numbers of articles about the spiritual healers and their methods and by giving them the opportunity to participate in a variety of TV-shows. This new attitude towards illness, healing and social problems underlines that these topics are no longer private concerns. The spiritual healing has incorporated the current social and economic transformations. The healers have become important contacts for this age group who consult them to find adequate solutions to a wide range of their concerns. The government profits from this new role of the spiritual healing and it uses it for various purposes such as to alleviate social tensions. The importance of the spiritual healing in Tunisia is also underlined by the serious attempt to develop an official cooperation between spiritual healing and modern medicine.

Tendo em vista a compreensão dos significados atribuídos às infeções oportunistas pelos pacientes HIV+ entre os moçambicanos da etnia Tsonga do distrito de Xai-Xai e a consequente busca de atendimento nas redes tradicionais de cura, na pesquisa adotamos uma metodologia qualitativa com caráter etnográfico. Embora Xai-Xai seja a capital de Gaza, importante província de Moçambique, ali, os Tsonga ainda estão muito inseridos nas redes tradicionais de cura. Por outro lado, a rede do Sistema Nacional da Saude se faz também presente e não muito precária, relativamente ao resto do país. Essa peculiaridade nos levou a indagação central do trabalho: no que concerne aos pacientes HIV+ será que os serviços de saúde do distrito da cidade de Xai-Xai dispõem de estruturas de acolhimento tão adequadas aos pressupostos ontológicos da cultura local quanto as redes tradicionais de cura? A nossa hipótese é a de que o desajuste de um acolhimento inadequado aos pacientes Tsonga impele-os a intensificar a busca de cuidados alternativos à medicina convencional nas redes tradicionais. A metodologia que escolhemos permitiu-nos compreender as vivências dos pacientes não somente a partir das questões apresentadas verbalmente, mas também podemos acompanhar as suas práticas cotidianas relacionadas a busca de cura. A pesquisa fez nos perceber que a ausência do diálogo entre a biomedicina e as redes tradicionais de cura influência em grande medida o elevado número de óbitos e a não retenção dos pacientes em Tratamento antiretroviral- Tarv mesmo com as constantes reinvenções de políticas de assistência aos pacientes HIV+. A situação colonial dessa relação se consubstância na negação ou subalternização do conhecimento local mesmo por atores nativos que atuam no sistema nacional de saúde.
In order to understand the meanings attributed to opportunistic infections by HIV+ patients among the Tsonga Mozambicans in the Xai-Xai district and the consequent search for care in the traditional healing networks, a qualitative methodology with an ethnographic character was used in the research. Although Xai-Xai is the capital of Gaza, a major province in Mozambique, the Tsonga are still very much embedded in traditional healing networks. On the other hand, the network of the National Health System is also present and not very precarious, relative to the rest of the country. This peculiarity has led us to the central inquiry of the work: as far as HIV + patients are concerned, the health services of the Xai-Xai city district have reception facilities that are as appropriate to the ontological presumptions of the local culture as the traditional cure? Our hypothesis is that the mismatch of inadequate care for Tsonga patients prompts them to intensify the search for alternative care to conventional medicine in traditional networks. The methodology we chose allowed us to understand the patients' experiences not only from the questions presented verbally, but we can also follow their daily practices related to the search for cure. The research made us realize that the absence of dialogue between biomedicine and traditional healing networks greatly influences the high number of deaths and non-retention of patients in antiretroviral treatment-TARV even with the constant reinvention of HIV+ patient care policies. The colonial situation of this relationship is consubstantiated in the negation or subalternization of local knowledge even by native actors who work in the national health system.

There is an observable growing interest in the process of healing. While most are familiar with what occurs when healing takes place, the questions of how it takes place, and by what means, remain difficult ones. Through increased understanding of the process it may be possible to increase its occurrence and effectiveness, and broaden its scope. Antecedents of contemporary healing activity are documented in the early history of the Christian church. However, the orthodoxy which arose in the church led to the suppression of much of the information relating to this, and also to the spread of orthodoxy and hierarchy as models for government and the professions. Within the contemporary health system, the medical model is the dominant one, although there is an increasingly important social model emerging alongside. There are signs also of increasing overlap between conventional medicine and complementary medicine, despite their differences in emphasis. Emerging also is a growing field of practice which bases itself on an energy model with diagnosis and treatment reflecting information and concepts which stem from theoretical and practical advances made this century, largely in the field of physics and biophysics. Adapting medical practice to the changed conceptualisation which this has produced, is a challenging prospect. The energy model has been employed widely by "New Age" practitioners and there remains scope for further research to systematise the basis for much of this practice. Non-Western cultures have always provided the Shamanistic model of healing. It offers the possibility of wider incorporation of dance, art and symbolism into practices which could enhance both individuals and communities in Western cultures. Some discussion is devoted to the issue of how contemporary healers see themselves and their work. Questionnaire responses and literature sources are used to examine aspects such as training and techniques, and the extent to which healing work aims at achieving a situation of self-responsibility in patients or clients. The scientific backdrop against which developments in the practice of healing are occurring is also examined. Philosophical and conceptual shifts in the 1980's suggest there is what might be called a post-rationalist approach to problems emerging alongside continuing rationalist theory and technological change. A post-rationalist approach could involve working more within the existing social and natural systems to understand them better and to improve quality of life, and to bring healing to people and situations. A shift from hierarchical to holographic perspectives may assist this process.

In addressing the client's needs for both complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) healing methods and psychotherapy (White, 2000; Saks, 2001), the psychotherapist's role is challenged. Research is needed in this area. From an applied phenomenological perspective, this research explores the problem of integration by interviewing psychotherapists who integrates their accredited psychotherapy and CAM qualifications into one practice. This research aims to ascertain what conscious experiences led these psychotherapists to integrate their two qualifications. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with such psychotherapists and the text was then thematically coded. Themes emerged from this thematic coding that describes the essences of these experiences. Such themes form the results of this dissertation. One of the main results indicated that there was a change in philosophy of life for most of the psychotherapists during their integration processes. Further the process of integration was natural and self-perpetuating and self-reinforcing for these psychotherapists.
Mr. R. L. van Niekerk

South Africa hosts a plural healthcare system that includes an allopathic sector and a complementary and alternative healthcare sector. This research report seeks to understand the motivations behind why people use the complementary system of Ayurveda, in South Africa and how they decide on its use through processes governing their decision making methods. The literature review summarises the key theoretical framework which moulded the study. The themes incorporated in the review include medicine’s evolution, Ayurveda, medical pluralism and complementary and alternative medicine, the illness experience and help seeking behaviour, the sick role and its relation to help seeking behaviour, and the Health Belief Model. The research was qualitative in nature and entailed semi structured interviews that were conducted with twenty seven Ayurveda users and three Ayurvedic doctors. The findings and analysis draw on the literature review, and when analysed, are developed into three coherent themes namely Ayurveda in South Africa (sets the scene of Ayurveda within the country), Reasons for using Ayurveda (the motivations behind people’s help seeking behaviours toward the system), and the use of Ayurveda in relation to other healing systems. The research found that Ayurveda is currently undergoing resurgence in South African society and in the process links itself to the wider global context that Ayurveda has situated itself. We also discover that participant’s decisions on the use of Ayurveda were decided upon through a multitude of factors and often Ayurveda was also utilised in many different situations rather than for a single case. Such interconnecting factors include their socialisation, lay referrals, interest in alternative systems, a sense of Indian pride and a cynical perception of Western medicine. Alternative or complementary system use was decided upon through factors that linked to people’s access of the alternative services and its affordability. Decisions ultimately were made to use Ayurveda as a complementary system to allopathy. Finally the conclusions of the study indicate that Ayurveda was transferred to South Africa, from India, through the country’s system of indentured labour where knowledge of the practice was passed down along generations. The research also deduces that it is primarily the Indian race that uses Ayurveda in South Africa and as such the healing system is more prominent in Indian areas. In addition, Ayurveda was not found to be a viable health or healing option for the wider South African population for whom its affordability and accessibility pose barriers.

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine (TCAM) has an essential role in health care worldwide, yet there is little research about TCAM in remote areas and none on its role in remote Australia. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recognised that TCAM fills a gap in health care, particularly in remote areas because it is available, affordable and socio-culturally accessible. This thesis explores the role of TCAM with the aim to understand how people use and practise in the specific remote Australian context, here named Apmere Thetheke. The setting is defined by cultural diversity, ethnically-based health disparities and notoriously poor health outcomes, with people falling through the gaps in health care. Narrative interviews have been conducted in situ with 44 users and/or practitioners of TCAM and the recorded data analysed thematically. The analysis works with theories of recognition to explore how health care is impacted by social position and cultural identity. Feminist framings explain how health experiences extend to social and spiritual dimensions. Theories of biomedical dominance are applied to chart the marginalisation of TCAM in health care. Findings show that practitioners adapt healing practices to meet local health needs and that people engage with TCAM beyond the treatment of biomedically-defined disease. People use TCAM to embed and belong in the landscape, as a vehicle to establish social positions and identities, and to express spirituality. Additionally, TCAM is used to counter the effects of direct and vicarious trauma which characterise the area. The thesis highlights the role of TCAM in a specific Australian context where health is impacted by remoteness. This thesis provides insights into people’s engagement with TCAM, including its role in filling health care gaps in this remote Australian context. It adds to literature for those committed to and interested in making health care culturally more accessible and, thus, safe to diverse populations.

This study examines the unique cultural practices related to disease prevention and health maintenance within a Holmes County, Ohio Amish community. This research focuses on the many options for healthcare within this community and the decisions behind their use. By engaging with these Amish community members to discuss their methods of managing health, the non-Amish medical professionals who treat Amish patients can learn cultural understandings of health within the community. As we learn that there are useful techniques to health beyond the dominant biomedical model, it is valuable to incorporate more traditional methods into our existing healthcare in to boost compliance and comfort for those seeking medical help.

M.A.
This paper presents a literature review on the effectiveness of complementary and alternative therapies (CAT’s) on depression with specific reference to Reiki and depression. The concept of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is explained. The use of complementary and alternative medicine is widespread and it is noted that those with psychiatric disorders are more likely to use CAM than those with other diseases. The discussion then focuses on Reiki, providing some background information to orientate the reader. The studies, reports and claims regarding the use and efficacy of Reiki are enumerated and evaluated with the aim of trying to establish whether Reiki has been used and therefore could be used to treat depression in women.

傳統中醫中藥理論遵從"腎主骨"概念。因此，中醫在治療與骨有關的疾病時一般都處方"補腎"類中藥。
ELP是一例中藥草本 "補腎" 複方。其包含三種中藥，包括淫羊藿（E）、女貞子（L）和補骨脂（P）。動物體內實驗和臨床研究已證明ELP有效治療絶經後骨質疏鬆症。可是，經口服吸收後的血清中的ELP有效物質對細胞的成骨影響從未進行過相關研究。ELP對預防在缺乏體力活動下所引起的骨質疏鬆症的療效也屬未知。此外，基於其"補腎"的特性，ELP可能潛在著能促進骨折癒合的功能。本研究的目的包括研究血清中ELP的有效物質在細胞和分子水平上的護骨能力，並測試其對預防於失重狀態下引起的骨質疏鬆症（慢性骨紊亂）的效能。本研究還旨在考察 ELP在促進骨癒合 （急性骨紊亂）上的作用。本研究分為三部分。
第一部分 -- 骨代謝的體外研究:健康大鼠分別口服草本配方ELP、EL、及單味中草藥提取物E或L、並以蒸餾水作為對照（H2O），口服給藥二小時後收集其血清作體外血清藥理學研究。分別考察含藥血清對各細胞系包括UMR106、RAW264.7、和從大鼠骨中分離出的骨髓間充質幹細胞（MSC）的增殖和分化屬性的影響，並以液質聯用技術（LC-MS）來分析血清內所含中藥的化學成份。
第二部分 -- 骨質疏鬆症的體內研究:以尾吊雄性大鼠作為卸荷狀態骨質疏鬆症的動物模型。在不同的給藥組中，大鼠口服高中低三種劑量的ELP（ELP-H、ELP-M和ELP-L），或三個不同抗骨質疏鬆藥物，包括雷洛昔芬（Ral），阿侖膦酸鈉（Aln）和雷奈酸鍶（Strn）作為陽性對照組，並以蒸餾水為安慰劑對照（TS）。另一組大鼠則沒有尾吊，作為正常對照（Non-TS）。本部分分析在吊尾期間大鼠體內生化指標和骨密度（BMD）的變化，及其後各組在骨小梁微結構和骨骼生物力學上的差異。
第三部分 -- 骨缺損癒合的體內研究:兩個鑽孔性骨缺損模型分別建立於老年雌性大鼠的左股骨骨幹和右脛骨近端骺端。其後動物分成4組：（1）ELP 口服給藥（ELP）；（2）CDNR外敷治療（CDNR為另一中藥複方，包含紅花（C）、續斷（D）、三七（N）和大黃（R））；（3）ELP口服給藥結合CDNR外敷治療（ELP+CDNR）；（4）和蒸餾水餵養（Control）。通過監測骨缺損癒合的過程、檢測大鼠血液中生化標誌物的變化、骨骼生物力學測試和形態計量學分析，考察ELP及其與CDNR在骨缺損癒合上的協同作用。
第一部分的結果顯示，口服給藥二小時後，大鼠血清中淫羊藿的標記化合物淫羊藿苷（icariin）無被檢出。在EL或E的給藥大鼠血清中，檢出淫羊藿苷的其中一個代謝產物icariside I；而其另一個代謝產物icariside II，則在ELP的給藥大鼠血清中檢測到。L和P的常見標記化合物則能從相應餵飼L和P的大鼠血清中檢出。體外血清藥理學研究結果表明含藥（ELP）大鼠血清對細胞無毒性作用，且能促進 UMR106 細胞增殖和上調其Runx2 基因表達。然而，含藥血清無增加UMR106細胞的鹼性磷酸酶活性和鈣沉積。它抑制 RAW264.7細胞的分化及其基質金屬蛋白酶9（MMP-9）和組織蛋白酶 K的基因表達。它亦能促進MSC細胞的增殖，增強其鹼性磷酸酶活性和Runx2與ALP基因的表達。
第二部分的結果指出ELP-H能減少吊尾大鼠股骨遠端及腰椎骨密度的百分比損失，抵抗股骨遠端骨小梁微結構惡化和加強股骨骨幹骨缺損部位的生物力學特性。此外，ELP-H還能降低血液骨鈣素和抗酒石酸酸性磷酸酶5b（TRAP5b）的濃度。研究亦發現ELP對骨密度、結構參數和生化指標的影響存在劑量依賴性。整體上而言，ELP在預防卸荷骨質疏鬆症的影響類似於Ral和Aln，而非Strn。
第三部分的結果表明，從顯微電腦掃描或形態計量學上分析，所有實驗組跟對照組間均沒有顯著性差異。但值得注意的是，ELP+CDNR大大提高了股骨骨幹骨缺損在癒合過程中的歸一化生物力學屬性。而ELP單獨用藥則減少了TRAP5b的濃度。
總之，這項研究結論出血清藥理學研究加上LC-MS的應用能作為找出中藥中有效成分的有效途徑。本研究還展示ELP的含藥血清對骨細胞有護骨作用。ELP可防預在卸荷狀態下形成的骨質疏鬆症，它還有助於提升外敷中藥複方CDNR在骨缺損癒合過程中的療效。從這項研究的三個部分中歸納出的共同點說明，儘管ELP擁有刺激成骨的能力，它的護骨作用主要是透過它的抗骨吸收效果。ELP在慢性（防止骨質疏鬆症）和急性（促進骨癒合）骨紊亂上均有療效。
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) claims that bone health lies in the functioning of the "Kidneys". When the "Kidney" is strong, our body can stimulate growth and transformation of the bone marrow, which nourishes and strengthens the skeleton. Therefore, "Kindey-tonifying" herbs are usually used to cure bone diseases.
ELP is a "Kidney-tonifying" Chinese herbal formula containing three Chinese herbs including Herba Epimedii (E), Fructus Ligustri Lucidi (L) and Fructus Psoraleae (P). It has been proven effective to treat postmenopausal osteoporosis through in vivo and clinical studies. However, ELP is for oral administration. The osteogenic properties of its post-absorption metabolites have never been studied. The efficacy of ELP on prevention of osteoporosis development due to physical inactivity is also unknown. With its "Kindey-tonifying" property, ELP is also considered as a potential agent to facilitate fracture healing.
The aims of this study included to investigate the osteoprotective effects of ELP metabolites at cellular and molecular levels and to prove the efficacy of ELP on prevention of osteoporosis development in unloading condition - a chronic bone disorder. It also aimed to study the effect of ELP on promotion of bone defect healing - an acute bone disorder. This study was divided into three parts.
Part 1 - in vitro study of bone metabolism: Healthy rats were fed with herbal formula ELP or EL, single herbal extracts of E or L or distilled water as control (H₂O). Sera were then collected for in vitro seropharmacological study. Cell lines including UMR106 and RAW264.7, as well as mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) isolated from rats, were cultured with the sera. Their proliferation and differentiation properties of the cells were analyzed. In addition, the chemical profiles of the herbal extracts within the sera were analyzed using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS).
Part 2 - in vivo study of osteoporosis: Tail-suspension male rats were used as the unloading osteoporotic animal model. The rats in different groups were fed with three different doses of ELP (ELP-H, ELP-M and ELP-L), or three different anti-osteoporosis drugs including raloxifene (Ral), alendronate (Aln) and strontium ranelate (Strn) as positive controls or distilled water as placebo control (TS). One group of rats was non-tail-suspended as normal control (Non-TS). Changes in bone mineral density (BMD), microarchitecture of trabeculae and biomechanical properties of the bone of the rats were analyzed. Changes in biochemical markers within the tail-suspension period were also studied.
Part 3 - in vivo study of bone defect healing: two drilled-hole bone defects were created in the diaphysis of left femur and proximal metaphysis of right tibia, respectively, of aged female rats. Animals were divided into 4 groups: (1) administered with ELP orally (ELP); (2) treated with another herbal formula CDNR containing Carthami Flos (C), Dipsaci Radix (D), Notoginseng Rhizoma (N) and Rhei Rhizoma (R) topically (CDNR); (3) treated with oral ELP and topical CDNR at the same time (ELP+CDNR); and (4) fed with distilled water (Control). The effects of ELP and the synergistic effects of ELP+CDNR on facilitation of the bone defect healing were monitored in vivo using viva-CT and through measurement of biochemical markers biweekly. After euthanasia of the rats, the bones were harvested for biomechanical test and histomorphometrical analysis.
Results: Part 1 revealed that the common marker compound, icariin, had not been detected in the sera of all the rats. Instead, one of the metabolites of E, icariside I, was found in the sera of the rats fed with EL or E, while another metabolite, icariside II, was detected in the serum of the rats fed with ELP. Common marker compounds of L and P were observed in the sera of the rats fed with the herbal items accordingly. The in vitro studies in this Part showed that there was no cytotoxic effect of the rat sera on the cells. The post-absorbed ELP metabolites in rat serum promoted UMR106 proliferation by 25.7%, (p < 0.05) and upregulated the Runx2 gene expression by 1.18 fold (p < 0.05) after cultured for 2 and 3 days, respectively. However, they could not increase the ALP activity and calcium deposition of UMR106. They also inhibited RAW264.7 differentiation by 29.2 % (p < 0.05) and downregulated the MMP9 and Cathepsin K gene expression of RAW264.7 by 0.46 (p < 0.05) and 0.36 (p < 0.01) fold, respectively. The ELP metabolites promoted the proliferation of MSC by 14.4 % (p < 0.001) and resulted in 42.6 % higher ALP activity than the control serum (p < 0.05). They also upregulated the Runx2 and ALP gene expression at both Day 4 and Day 7 of culture significantly.
Part 2 showed that compared with the tail-suspension control (TS), ELP in high dose (ELP-H) reduced the percentage loss of total and trabecular BMD by 5.46 and 8.52 %, respectively (p < 0.05 both) in distal femur, and by 4.67 % (p < 0.05) in trabecular region of lumbar spine of the tail-suspended rats. Analysis from micro-CT showed that microarchitectural parameters BV/TV, Tb.Th and TV density of the distal femur of ELP-H were 17.62, 11.90 and 8.09 % higher than those of the TS (p < 0.05, for all). 3-point bending test on mid-shaft femur of the rats revealed that the yield load, ultimate load and stiffness of the drill-defect of ELP-H were higher than those of TS significantly. All of the biochemical markers decreased significantly from baseline (Day 0) to Day 28 in ELP-H. In addition, osteocalcin and TRAP5b concentrations of ELP-H were lower than those of TS significantly at Day 28. The effect of ELP on BMD, microarchitectural parameters and biochemical markers were in dose-dependent manner. In general, the osteoprotective effect of ELP-H on unloading bone was similar to Ral and Aln, but not Strn.
Part 3 indicated no significant difference in BV/TV and BMD among all groups at each time point. Histomorphometrical analysis from fluorescent labeling and Goldner’s trichrome staining showed no statistical difference in new bone formation between the Control and other treatment groups. Notably, the normalized yield load, ultimate load and failure of ELP+CDNR were significantly higher than those of Control by 20.38 % (p < 0.05), 23.17 % (p< 0.001) and 25.55 % (p< 0.001), respectively. Analysis on the change of biochemical markers showed that the bone formation marker BALP increased while bone resorption markers Dpd and TRAP5b decreased within the 42-day monitoring period. BALP activity of both Control and ELP increased significantly but only ELP reduced the TRAP5b concentrations starting from Day 14 post-op. There was no statistical difference when the concentrations of the biochemical markers were compared horizontally among the 4 groups at the same time point.
In conclusion, the current study demonstrated that seropharmacological study incorporating with the application of LC-MS can be a potential efficient approach to find out active ingredients of medicine herbs. Post-absorbed metabolites of ELP also showed their osteoprotective effects on bone cells. Aqueous extract of ELP could prevent the development of osteoporosis in unloading condition and such effect was dose-dependent. It also helped elevating the efficacy of a topical applied herbal formula CDNR on improving the bone strength of healing bone defects. A common finding from the 3 parts of this study illustrated that the osteoprotective effect of ELP was mainly achieved by its anti-resorptive efficacy on bone, although it possess an ability to stimulate osteoblastogenesis. ELP was found effective for both chronic (prevent osteoporosis development) and acute (facilitate bone healing) bone disorders.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Siu, Wing Sum.
"November 2012."
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 201-227).
Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.
Abstracts also in Chinese.
ABSTRACT --- p.i
摘要 --- p.vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.xi
LIST OF FIGURES --- p.xvii
LIST OF TABLES --- p.xxiii
PUBLICATIONS --- p.xxiv
ABBREVIATION --- p.xxv
Chapter CHAPTER 1: --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1
Chapter 1.1 --- TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE (TCM) AND BONE DISEASES --- p.1
Chapter 1.2 --- CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR MECHANISMS ON BONE METABOLISM --- p.2
Chapter 1.2.1 --- Bone formation by osteoblast --- p.3
Chapter 1.2.2 --- Bone resorption by osteoclasts --- p.4
Chapter 1.3 --- OSTEOPOROSIS --- p.5
Chapter 1.3.1 --- Postmenopausal osteoporosis --- p.6
Chapter 1.3.2 --- Disuse osteoporosis --- p.8
Chapter 1.3.3 --- Basic principle of TCM on osteoporosis --- p.10
Chapter 1.3.4 --- Common Chinese herbal medicine reported to have anti-osteoporotic effects --- p.11
Chapter 1.4 --- BONE FRACTURE --- p.11
Chapter 1.4.1 --- Biology and repair of bone fracture --- p.12
Chapter 1.4.2 --- TCM on promotion of fracture healing --- p.13
Chapter 1.4.3 --- Theories of TCM on fracture healing --- p.15
Chapter CHAPTER 2: --- OSTEOPOROSIS AND HERBS --- p.16
Chapter 2.1 --- CHINESE HERBAL MEDICINE SELECTED IN THIS PART --- p.16
Chapter 2.2 --- DESIGN OF STUDY --- p.19
Chapter 2.3 --- HYPOTHESES AND OBJECTIVES --- p.19
Chapter 2.4 --- BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY --- p.23
Chapter 2.4.1 --- In vitro study of ELP on bone cells --- p.23
Chapter 2.4.2 --- In vivo study of ELP on postmenopausal osteoporosis --- p.23
Chapter 2.4.3 --- Clinical study of ELP on postmenopausal osteoporosis --- p.24
Chapter CHAPTER 3: --- PART 1 IN VITRO SEROPHARMACOLOGICAL STUDY ON OSTEOPOROSIS --- p.26
Chapter 3.1 --- OBJECTIVES --- p.26
Chapter 3.2 --- SEROPHARMACOLOGICAL APPROACH TO STUDY ELP --- p.26
Chapter 3.3 --- TYPES OF CELLS INVOLVED IN THE CURRENT STUDY --- p.27
Chapter 3.3.1 --- UMR106 --- p.28
Chapter 3.3.2 --- RAW264.7 --- p.28
Chapter 3.3.3 --- Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) --- p.28
Chapter 3.4 --- IN VITRO ASSESSMENTS ON BONE METABOLISM --- p.29
Chapter 3.4.1 --- Bone formation --- p.29
Chapter 3.4.1.1 --- 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) cell viability assay --- p.29
Chapter 3.4.1.2 --- Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) assay --- p.30
Chapter 3.4.1.3 --- Total alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity measurement --- p.30
Chapter 3.4.1.4 --- Calcium deposition analysis --- p.30
Chapter 3.4.2 --- Bone degradation --- p.31
Chapter 3.4.2.1 --- Tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) staining --- p.31
Chapter 3.4.3 --- Phenotypic markers of cells involved in bone remodeling using quantitative real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) --- p.31
Chapter 3.5 --- MATERIAL AND METHODS --- p.37
Chapter 3.5.1 --- Preparation of herbal extracts --- p.37
Chapter 3.5.2 --- Serum preparation for seropharmacological study --- p.38
Chapter 3.5.2.1 --- Administration of herbal extracts and blood collection --- p.38
Chapter 3.5.2.2 --- Serum preparation --- p.38
Chapter 3.5.3 --- Analysis of marker compounds in serum using liquid chromatographymass spectrometry (LC-MS) --- p.39
Chapter 3.5.3.1 --- Serum preparation --- p.39
Chapter 3.5.3.2 --- Operation of LC-MS --- p.39
Chapter 3.5.4 --- Isolation and characterization of MSC from bone marrow --- p.40
Chapter 3.5.5 --- Cell culture --- p.42
Chapter 3.5.5.1 --- General materials --- p.42
Chapter 3.5.5.2 --- UMR106 --- p.43
Chapter 3.5.5.3 --- RAW264.7 --- p.44
Chapter 3.5.5.4 --- Bone Marrow MSC --- p.45
Chapter 3.5.6 --- Assays analyzing the responses of cells on the effect of metabolites of herbs in serum --- p.46
Chapter 3.5.6.1 --- General materials --- p.46
Chapter 3.5.6.2 --- Assays for bone formation --- p.50
Chapter 3.5.6.3 --- Assays for bone degradation --- p.55
Chapter 3.5.7 --- Statistical analysis --- p.56
Chapter 3.6 --- RESULTS --- p.57
Chapter 3.6.1 --- Chemical characterization of ELP extract --- p.57
Chapter 3.6.2 --- Marker compounds found in rat serum using LC-MS --- p.58
Chapter 3.6.3 --- Effects of herbal metabolites on UMR106 --- p.61
Chapter 3.6.3.1 --- Effect on cell viability --- p.61
Chapter 3.6.3.2 --- Effects on cell proliferation and differentiation --- p.61
Chapter 3.6.3.3 --- Regulation on osteogenesis through gene expression --- p.63
Chapter 3.6.4 --- Effects of herbal metabolites on RAW264.7 --- p.67
Chapter 3.6.4.1 --- Effect on cell viability --- p.67
Chapter 3.6.4.2 --- Inhibitory effect on RAW264.7 --- p.67
Chapter 3.6.4.3 --- Regulation on osteoclastogenesis through gene expression --- p.67
Chapter 3.6.5 --- Effects of herbal metabolites on bone marrow mesenchyma stem cell (MSC) --- p.70
Chapter 3.6.5.1 --- Confirmation of MSC isolated from bone marrow of rat using flow cytometry --- p.70
Chapter 3.6.5.2 --- Effect on cell viability --- p.70
Chapter 3.6.5.3 --- Effects on cell proliferation and differentiation --- p.71
Chapter 3.6.5.4 --- Regulation on osteogenesis through gene expression --- p.71
Chapter 3.7 --- DISCUSSION --- p.75
Chapter CHAPTER 4: --- PART 2 IN VIVO STUDY ON DISUSE OSTEOPOROSIS . --- p.83
Chapter 4.1 --- OBJECTIVES --- p.83
Chapter 4.2 --- POTENTIAL EFFECT OF ELP ON DISUSE OSTEOPOROSIS --- p.83
Chapter 4.3 --- ANIMAL MODELS FOR OSTEOPOROSIS STUDY --- p.84
Chapter 4.3.1 --- Conventional ovariectomized animal model for the studies of osteoporosis --- p.85
Chapter 4.3.2 --- Animal models for study of disuse osteoporosis --- p.85
Chapter 4.3.2.1 --- Bandaging or casting --- p.86
Chapter 4.3.2.2 --- Tail-suspension (TS) --- p.86
Chapter 4.4 --- ASSESSMENTS ON DISUSE OSTEOPOROSIS DEVELOPMENT --- p.87
Chapter 4.4.1 --- Bone mineral density (BMD) measurement --- p.87
Chapter 4.4.2 --- Micro-architecture analysis --- p.87
Chapter 4.4.3 --- Bone strength assessment --- p.88
Chapter 4.4.4 --- Bone turnover monitoring by measuring biochemical markers --- p.89
Chapter 4.4.4.1 --- Bone formation markers --- p.89
Chapter 4.4.4.2 --- Bone resorption markers --- p.91
Chapter 4.5 --- MATERIAL AND METHODS --- p.95
Chapter 4.5.1 --- Preparation of herbal extracts --- p.95
Chapter 4.5.2 --- Tail-suspension rat model --- p.95
Chapter 4.5.3 --- Animal arrangement and grouping --- p.97
Chapter 4.5.4 --- Administration of herbal extracts and drugs --- p.97
Chapter 4.5.5 --- Assessments on disuse osteoporosis development --- p.98
Chapter 4.5.5.1 --- Bone mineral density measurement using Peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography (pQCT) --- p.98
Chapter 4.5.5.2 --- Bone micro-architecture analysis using Micro-computed Tomography (μCT) --- p.99
Chapter 4.5.5.3 --- Bone strength assessment through biomechanical bending test --- p.100
Chapter 4.5.5.4 --- Bone turnover monitoring by measuring biochemical markers --- p.100
Chapter 4.5.5.4.1 --- Serum collection --- p.100
Chapter 4.5.5.4.2 --- Measurements of biochemical markers --- p.101
Chapter 4.5.6 --- Statistical analysis --- p.105
Chapter 4.6 --- RESULTS --- p.106
Chapter 4.6.1 --- Effects of ELP on bone mineral density (BMD) --- p.106
Chapter 4.6.2 --- Effects of ELP on bone micro-architecture --- p.118
Chapter 4.6.3 --- Effects of ELP on biomechanics of bone --- p.122
Chapter 4.6.4 --- Effects of ELP on bone turnover --- p.125
Chapter 4.7 --- DISCUSSION --- p.132
Chapter CHAPTER 5: --- PART 3 IN VIVO STUDY ON BONE DEFECT HEALING --- p.140
Chapter 5.1 --- HERBAL ITEMS SELECTED IN THIS PART --- p.140
Chapter 5.2 --- DESIGN OF STUDY --- p.143
Chapter 5.3 --- HYPOTHESES AND OBJECTIVES --- p.144
Chapter 5.4 --- SPECIFIC STRATEGY ON PROMOTION OF FRACTURE HEALING OF TCM --- p.144
Chapter 5.5 --- POTENTIAL EFFECT OF ELP ON BONE HEALING --- p.144
Chapter 5.6 --- ANIMAL MODELS --- p.146
Chapter 5.6.1 --- Bone fracture model --- p.147
Chapter 5.6.2 --- Drill-hole bone defect model --- p.147
Chapter 5.7 --- ASSESSMENTS ON BONE HEALING --- p.149
Chapter 5.7.1 --- Micro-architecture analysis --- p.149
Chapter 5.7.2 --- Bone strength assessment --- p.150
Chapter 5.7.3 --- Bone turnover monitoring by measuring biochemical markers --- p.151
Chapter 5.7.4 --- Histomorphometry --- p.151
Chapter 5.8 --- MATERIALS AND METHODS --- p.153
Chapter 5.8.1 --- Preparation of herbal extracts --- p.153
Chapter 5.8.1.1 --- ELP --- p.153
Chapter 5.8.1.2 --- CDNR --- p.153
Chapter 5.8.2 --- Production of drill-hole bone defect --- p.154
Chapter 5.8.2.1 --- Femur --- p.155
Chapter 5.8.2.2 --- Tibia --- p.155
Chapter 5.8.2.3 --- Animal arrangement and grouping --- p.157
Chapter 5.8.3 --- Herbal formulae administration and application --- p.157
Chapter 5.8.3.1 --- Oral administration --- p.157
Chapter 5.8.3.2 --- Topical application --- p.157
Chapter 5.8.4 --- Assessments on bone healing --- p.158
Chapter 5.8.4.1 --- Bone micro-architecture and bone density measurement using in vivo micro-computed tomography (vivaCT) --- p.158
Chapter 5.8.4.2 --- Bone strength assessment through biomechanical bending test --- p.159
Chapter 5.8.4.3 --- Bone turnover monitoring by measuring biochemical markers --- p.160
Chapter 5.8.4.4 --- Histomorphometry --- p.160
Chapter 5.8.4.4.1 --- Fluorochrome double labeling --- p.160
Chapter 5.8.4.4.2 --- Tissue processing and sectioning --- p.161
Chapter 5.8.4.4.3 --- Staining of sections --- p.162
Chapter 5.8.4.4.4 --- Image analysis --- p.164
Chapter 5.8.5 --- Statistical analysis --- p.165
Chapter 5.9 --- RESULTS --- p.166
Chapter 5.9.1 --- Effect of ELP and CDNR on bone micro-architecture --- p.and
Chapter bone --- density at the bone defect site --- p.166
Chapter 5.9.2 --- Histomorphometrical findings in treatment of bone healing --- p.172
Chapter 5.9.3 --- Effect of ELP and CDNR on biomechanics of bone --- p.175
Chapter 5.9.4 --- Effect of ELP and CDNR on bone turnover --- p.178
Chapter 5.10 --- DISCUSSION --- p.184
Chapter CHAPTER 6: --- GENERAL DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION --- p.193
Chapter 6.1 --- UNKNOWN AREAS FOR THE STUDY OF ELP --- p.193
Chapter 6.2 --- SUMMARY OF CRUCIAL FINDINGS OF THE OSTEOGENIC EFFECTS OF ELP IN EACH PART OF THIS STUDY --- p.194
Chapter 6.2.1 --- Part 1: in vitro seropharmacological study on osteoporosis --- p.194
Chapter 6.2.2 --- Part 2: in vivo study on disuse osteoporosis --- p.195
Chapter 6.2.3 --- Part 3: in vivo study on bone healing --- p.196
Chapter 6.3 --- COMMON OSTEOGENIC EFFECT OF ELP IN THE THREE PARTS OF THE WHOLE STUDY --- p.197
Chapter 6.4 --- LIMITATIONS OF THE PRESENT STUDY --- p.197
Chapter 6.5 --- SIGNIFICANCES OF THIS STUDY --- p.199
Chapter 6.6 --- FUTURE STUDIES --- p.199
BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.201

Arguably, the practice of spiritual healing is simple in that it requires only the human body without utilizing a known physical means of intervention. Yet, it is confounding because its mechanisms, such as the belief and ability of the healer, are unable to be measured with a device. Given that, in recent years, spiritual healing has been found to be among the most prevalent practices in the field of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and that studies measuring its efficacy show variable results, it is important to understand its underlying mechanisms. Researchers have been studying the practice of spiritual healing, finding that, although the spiritual healer is not considered an actual device, metaphorically speaking, evidence suggests that she or he appears to be the most refined “instrument” of measurement. In order to gain an in-depth understanding of the perceptions of spiritual healers, this qualitative case study asks: what is the role of the mental imagery of ten spiritual healers and their three clients over the course of three spiritual healings? To determine this, the study presents the following subquestions: 1) How do spiritual healers construct, experience, and express mental imagery during a spiritual healing treatment? 2) What kind, if any, comparability is there across different constructions, experiences, and expressions of mental imagery during a spiritual healing as described by the spiritual healers and their clients? Among other findings, this study found that the spiritual healers constructed, experienced, and expressed mental imagery in three main ways, including 1) initial perceptions, 2) meaning and interpretations, and 3) perceptions of spiritual healing. These themes existed for all of the spiritual healers across all cases. Within each of these themes, the researcher then generated a list of subthemes that were most prevalent. This study found that the subthemes and statements were overlapping and distinct to each case. Additionally, this was further confirmed by overlaps among the spiritual healers’ perceptions as they related to each of their clients’ accounts, reiterating that the spiritual healers constructed, experienced, and expressed mental imagery that was specific to each of their clients.

Following cultural anthropological inquiry, this dissertation examines the adoption of shamanic healing techniques into Western medicine and the resultant hybrid modality of health care fostered by two disparate healing traditions. As the U.S. populace increasingly turns to alternative forms of healing in conjunction with, or in lieu of, conventional Western medicine, shamanic healing has been added to the list of recognized non-conventional therapies. Shamanism, once prevalent throughout most of the world in various cultural forms, is purported to be the oldest healing modality, dating back to the Upper Paleolithic in Siberia. Historical excoriation and extermination from religious and political dogma have plagued shamanic cultures for centuries while their healing practices have been rebuked by Western concepts emergent from the Scientific Revolution—whereupon the Cartesian Split and a corporeal view of the body transformed the field of medicine. In the United States, over the last decade, a new and growing subculture of health care practitioners, including “Western” educated medical practitioners, is seeking out shamanic training for personal and professional development. This study examines how the adoption of a healing paradigm borne out of indigenous cultures oriented toward communal living and local economies is adapted to a Western culture steeped in individualism, commercialization, and commodification. Through surveys, interviews, and ethnographic research, the investigator provides numerous examples and analysis of the practice of shamanic healing techniques in medical clinics, health care centers, and hospitals. In particular, this study will focus on the shamanic training of health care practitioners, their motivations, the manner in which they incorporate shamanic healing techniques into their treatment protocols, as well as patient/colleague/administrative responses and institutional barriers. A comparative analysis provides discussion on both the metamorphosis of shamanic healing traditions appropriated within a biomedical framework as well as the influence of spiritually-based healing practices upon the established medical culture in the United States today. Through the lens of highlighted individual experiences, the investigator offers insight into an emerging hybrid healing modality embedded in cultural contrasts that also serves as a catalyst for the renegotiation of the meaning of healing.

This thesis addresses non-traditional angelic spirituality experienced outside of traditional churches. This spirituality is specific for its everyday communication and contact with angelic beings. The present research examines contemporary angelic spirituality using a lens of relational ontology and semiotic analysis, focusing on how recurrent communication acts allow the emergence of specific subjectivities and identifies the main processes behind this phenomenon - recognition, interpretation and reaction. Research documents specific techniques allowing the formation of angelic subjectivities and redefinition of human subjectivities; prayer, reading cards, guided meditation, different types of clairvoyance and interpretation of signs. Deliberately using these techniques leads to re/definition of subjectivity of a practitioner (through clairvoyant insights into the past lives) and transforms him into human/incarnated soul. These communication acts further form a subjectivity of deceased souls, with which practitioners of angelic spirituality are often in contact, together with the subjectivity of dark beings, which cannot interact with a person without invitation it first and a subjectivity of angelic beings, which are defined by their unconditional support of their charges. Emergent "ecology of...

The interest of anthropology of religion often focuses on the view of life and values of practitioners of a religion or spiritual system and the following text is put into the same context. This master thesis deals with the Reiki phenomenon - originally eastern spiritual technique that was, just like other similar philosophical-spiritual systems, spread out in America and Europe in the second half of twentieth century. Reiki has another distinct feature, besides spirituality. It is its affiliation to so called healing systems because of which I do not consider it purely spiritual system, but rather specific spiritual praxis with healing aspect that is historically connected with medical environment. I base my theory not only on anthropology of religion, but I also think in terms of medical anthropology and the theory of embodiment. Through explaining of basic Reiki principles, I am showing that the world of Reiki practitioners is to a certain extent divided. The evolution of the teaching led to many significantly different modifications and to current state, where these modifications coexist and make one single definition of the teaching very difficult. The perspective of embodiment allows me to focus more in detail on the healing praxis itself and its most important aspect - the body, which I see...

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been common practice for many years, and part of the treatment plan of several million patients in the world. This includes areas such as Great Britain, USA, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, Switzerland and China. However, its possibilities in the territory of the Czech Republic are limited and insufficiently mapped (the area of practicing TCM for non-medical education practitioners). The thesis analyzes the current situation of doctors and practitioners applying TCM in the territory of the Czech Republic compared to other countries where TCM has been successfully established within the health system for many years. It also aims to find out how doctors and practitioners advocate their focus, what reasons they present for treatment with the TCM and how they deal with the criticism of their colleagues from the West. The work will include findings on why conventional physicians are heading towards Eastern medicine. Due to the debate of the topic, the thesis will continue to deal with the legislative anchoring of TCM in the laws of the Czech Republic and the world. The theoretical part of the thesis presents basic concepts related to the history and philosophy of the TCM. It also describes methods of diagnostics, treatment and pillars that the TCM supports...

Healing from conflict allows us to bring the best we can be to each relationship and situation, however current healing techniques focus on the involvement of other people. A self-healing road map could be beneficial. The goal of this research was to examine Locate, Describe and Transform (LDT™) and its potential to provide just such a guide. This qualitative case study examined a single, self-applied LDT™ energy session in order to explore what might be revealed about its underlying conflict healing theoretical framework. Using Moustakas’ heuristic methodology, the LDT™ process was formulated and linked to research in embodiment, metaphor, and energy healing. The concept of universal energy was then compared to four conflict theories of connection, including Maslow’s Self-Actualization, Redekop’s Mimetic Structures of Blessing, LeBaron’s Connected Ways of Knowing, and Gopin’s Eight Steps. LDT™ was found to be theoretically grounded and worthy of further exploration.

Herbal medicines remain integral part of indigenous health care system in Ghana. Most conventional health medicines are directly or indirectly derived from plants or herbs. Despite its significant role in modern medicine indigenous herbal practices has been on the low light for some time due to perceived antagonistic relationship that exists between practitioners of herbal medicine and their counterpart in the conventional system. Using an indigenous knowledge discursive framework, the thesis examined the relevance of herbal medicine to the contemporary Ghanaian society. The thesis also examined the tension between the indigenous herbal practitioners and their orthodox counterparts. The thesis noted that for health care system in Ghana to be effective, there is a need for collaborate relations between these two practitioners. Also, it was noted that for health care system to be effective in Ghana, spirituality has to be central in the works of the herbal practitioners.

Diploma thesis "Alternative medicine in the specialized media and reflections of these phenomena in the selected mainstream press media" is researching specialized magazines with content oriented on alternative medicine emerging in the 90's of the previous century and in one case in the beginning of the 21st century. Thesis specifically examinates magazines - social magazine Reflex (on account of alternative medicine materials in the 1990 and 1991), Regena ( 1990 and 1991), Regenerace (1993 and 1994) and Meduňka (2004). In their first years magazines are described from historical and content perspective and in the same time they are contrasted with the topical volume of their predecessors (except of Reflex magazine). Another part of thesis is dedicated to observing two important czech daily papers - Mladá fronta / Mladá fronta Dnes and Lidové noviny (at the same observed periods). All five volumes of both periodicals contained numerous references which proves attractivity of these themes for society as a whole. While the analysis of specialized magazines was dealing with form by which are people interested in alternative medicine, reading of Mladá fronta / Mladá fronta Dnes and Lidové noviny evaluated general attitude of media to reader mostly uninitiated to these matters.

MAAS
Centre for African Studies
The study sought to explore the use of traditional healing modalities in the provision of mental illness in the Vhembe district of Limpopo province. Traditional medicine has been used for thousands of years by indigenous people in South Africa and Africa as a whole, and demonstrated efficacy in treating a wide range of health issue. Many of the medicines in contemporary biomedical treatment are derived from plants and herbs used by indigenous people throughout the world. The objectives of the study were to describe the profile of the clients that visit the traditional healers, to explain traditional healers’ diagnostic strategies of mental illness, to explain the traditional healing treatment modalities in the treatment of various forms of mental illness and to discuss traditional healers’ prevention methods of mental illness. The study was guided by indigenous theory of health and illness as a theoretical framework, and for supporting the literature, a theory of African perspective theory was used. A qualitative research approach was used in order to have an in-depth understanding of the modalities of traditional healing in the provision of mental health care. Case study approach was used. Participants were selected purposively around Vhembe district in Limpopo province and snowball sampling technique was applied in order to identify and recruit relevant participants. The researcher conducted semi -structured interviews to gather the relevant data. Data analysis was based on the interpretative philosophy that aimed at examining meaning and symbolic content of qualitative data. Thematic analysis method was employed. The findings of the study confirmed that traditional healing is still widely used in the communities in the provision of mental illness and that there are a variety of diagnostic, treatment and prevention methods in the provision of mental illness. The findings also show that as much as there are challenges facing traditional healing in treatment of mental illness, there is a need to introduce their modalities in the healthcare system of South Africa, Africa and the whole world. Programs that aim to educate the communities about traditional healing modalities should also be established by the Department of Health and the relevant stakeholders such as traditional healers’ organizations.
NRF

The traditional health care system as it prevails in South Africa is part of African culture and intricately linked with the African world view. It embraces traditional norms and values that have survived to this day. In this sense it is more than a constituent part of medical pluralism which has become a global phenomenon. The role of the traditional healer is far more extensive than that of the modern medical doctor. He advises on all aspects of life, including physical, psychological, spiritual, moral and legal matters. He shares the client's world view. He understands the significance of ancestral spirits, the belief in supernatural forces and the reality of witches. It is in this context that modern scientific medicine has not been able to replace traditional medicine, and arguably never will. Traditional medicine is faced with enormous challenges at present. Firstly, the traditional social order is fast disappearing, making way for the state and the individual whose rights as contained in the Bill of Rights of the 1996 Constitution of the Republic of South Africa may seriously clash with traditional norms. Secondly, especially in an urban environment, the healer may encounter stiff competition from more progressive colleagues and modern physicians. Thirdly, scientific medicine basically regards traditional activities as unscientific, unregulated, often harmful and sometimes fatal. Fourthly, anti-witchcraft legislation hinders the traditional practitioner to deal with witches in the culturally appropriate manner. Traditional medicine will not go away. It is therefore necessary to find ways and means to see it practised in a safe and competent manner. As healers agitate for official recognition, it will be regarded as their corresponding duty to professionalise the traditional sector, create a traditional medical council and establish a register of bona fide healers who possess stipulated qualifications and are subject to rules of conduct and discipline. The modern and traditional sectors are essentially complementary and should be accommodated within a legal framework of official health care that protects healers and healed alike. The legal implications of this strategy are discussed in a global as well as regional African context.
Jurisprudence
LL.D.

Historically the trend in health care has been the domain of health care professionals such as doctors, nurses and other professionals from the medical fraternity. This created the separation between the mind and body, due to the diagnostic and treatment origins being segregated. This thesis addresses the idea that psychological processes have significant impacts on our physical health {and visa versa). It establishes the notion that health care needs to be understood holistically, from a broader systemic perspective, expanding the working model of health. The second chapter of this thesis addresses the power of the mind and the connection between the mind and body. It establishes the importance of beliefs and perceptions and the huge effect this has on people and their lives. How we choose to perceive a situation will give that situation meaning. The meanings that we give to events usually depict how we will see and respond to that event, sometimes more than the actual event itself. It explains the importance of the mind (psychological issues) as well as the body (physiological issues) when understanding and dealing with health and wellbeing. The following chapter discusses the historical developments of physical and mental health; from Hippocrates and Descartes to a modern holistic approach and attitude. Behaviour Medicine6, explicitly recognises that mind and body are intimately interconnected and that an appreciation of these interconnections and their scientific study is an interdisciplinary field, uniting the behavioural sciences with the biomedical sciences; in the hope that the cross fertilization will yield a more comprehensive picture of health and illness. The 'biopsychosocial model'7 provides a theoretical framework, explaining how an awareness of biological, psychological and social process are all important in understanding disease and recovery, supported by systemic principles. The scientific research and practical implications of psychoneuroimmunology8 (PNI) takes this biopsychosocial model one-step further. It describes how thoughts, perceptions and emotions have interchangeable influences with brain chemistry, which in turn influences the body and neurological systems1 particularly immune system functioning. The concept that we all have an inner ability /intelligence to heal ourselves is also detailed. Miller (1997: 350) discusses this notion, stating that we all have "a healer within." He states that this inner healer can be awakened in order to participate in "our deep healing.11 He claims, "This vital essence has been with us since birth ... Its function is to maintain homeostasis (internal balance). As humans, we can1 through our ability to change our images and beliefs, enhance, or inhibit the power of this inner healer." The concepts discussed thus far in the thesis are then demonstrated practically. The relationship between stress and health is examined and practical ways to maintain a healthier lifestyle is detailed. The researcher then introduces a South African company that is currently working in the field with the concepts of mindbody medicine and psychoneuroimmunology. This led the researcher to find a philosophical container in which to hold the holistic mind body theories and concepts. Anderson & Carter (2003: 222) states, "Social work distinguishes itself by exploring the 'person-environment fit'. This is an area in social work where constructivism may prove supportive. Such an emphasis increases the likelihood that diverse voices and points of view are integrated in social work theory and practice." Therefore/ a constructive epistemology/ philosophy in which meaning is intimately connected with experience, is expanded upon. The mind/body theory and concepts are then linked to Constructivism and Personal Construct Theory (by George Kelly). Constructivism postulates that we all create and interpret our own meaning systems, which become our subjective realities. The link to mind body medicine is pertinent in that both constructivism and mind body medicine share similar ideologies about how realities are construed, and how this in turn effects treatment of disease and maintenance of wellbeing. Cybernetic complementarities then expand our understanding of the mind and body connection in a monolistic framework, where mind and body are recursive partial arcs of a holistic health care system. Constructivism therefore integrates eastern and western concepts, cementing all the concepts used in this thesis, in a holistic manner. It also helps us to understand how some of the mind body techniques may be working within the mind body realm. Given the unique needs of a changing and developing society, as found in South Africa, there is a need to be creative and find alternative ways to cope with our societal stresses and daily occurrences. This is where the researcher feels that the social work profession needs to be involved in working and contributing to our health care services. The development of medical social work is detailed and the latest social work definition discussed. It is reveals how contents of the definition of social work are relevant and are a pertinent fit with mind-body approaches to health and wellbeing. The researcher debates the role of social workers in this field of health care. It is then proposed, in the detailed discussion, that social workers practising in this field should be known as Health Care Social Workers. This field of holistic health care has many proposed strengths and implication, for both Health Care Social Workers and other health care professionals. It will naturally also present challenges that need to be considered and contemplated. The final chapter of this thesis examine these strengths and challenges and their therapeutic implications. The researcher concludes by demonstrating that the literature study on holistic mind and body approaches matches her objectives from the first chapter.
Social work
M.A. (Social Science with specialisation in Mental Health)

This qualitative study uses narrative inquiry (Connelly & Clandinin, 1988, 1990, 2001) and self-study to investigate ways to further understand and facilitate the integration of holistic philosophies of education with media literacy pedagogies. As founder and director of the Youth Media Literacy Project and a self-titled Imagitator (one who agitates imagination), I have spent over 10 years teaching media literacy in various high schools, universities, and community centres across North America. This study will focus on my own personal practical knowledge (Connelly & Clandinin, 1982) as a culture jammer, educator and cancer survivor to illustrate my original vision of a ‘holistic media literacy pedagogy’. This research reflects on the emergence and impact of holistic media literacy in my personal and professional life and also draws from relevant interdisciplinary literature to challenge and synthesize current insights and theories of media literacy, holistic education and culture jamming.

Dissertação de mestrado em Sociologia (área de especialização em Saúde e Sociedade)
Com o advento do ano 2000, emergiu em Portugal uma nova religiosidade, a Angelologia: os anjos reapareceram como um elo que unia as pessoas em torno de sentimentos como o perdão, a igualdade e o amor, e paradigmas simbólicos da tolerância religiosa. Eles fazem a ponte entre diversas religiões: o Zoroastrismo, o Judaísmo, o Gnosticismo, o Islamismo e o Catolicismo. Relacionando os anjos com a minha área de mestrado surgiu o título da minha dissertação. Desta forma, a problemática desta tese consistiu em sabermos, de que modo os anjos, a magia, a cabala e a fé influenciam a cura dos doentes, e qual a contribuição da fé na promoção da saúde. Essa é, aliás, a questão de partida. Por conseguinte, optamos por utilizar a pesquisa qualitativa neste trabalho, que utilizou como técnicas a entrevista semi-estruturada e a análise de conteúdo das mesmas; para tal, abordei seguidores do espiritismo, um ex-umbandista, e um padre Capuchino da Igreja Catolica. Consegui provar a hipótese nula, pois tanto o ex umbandistas como os espíritas crêem que os anjos têm uma influência positiva para a saúde pois inspiram bons pensamentos e auxiliam o próximo através da sua mediunidade. O médium é um mensageiro da entidade, e o anjo um mensageiro de Deus para o todos os credos estudados. Apenas o padre revelou, de forma implícita, conhecer a cabala hebraica e a hierarquia angélica. Existe prática de magia branca, ou do bem na Umbanda no manuseamento de ervas e na defumação. Aquilo que os umbandistas classificam como magia, o padre e os kardecistas designam como milagre. A cura através da fé, ou cura espiritual, a qual recorre à mediunidade como método e utiliza o médium como instrumento, já é aceite por alguns profissionais de saúde como uma medicina alternativa, tendo como exemplo mais eminente, a Religião; esta enuncia a prece como suporte principal de alívio aos enfermos, apaziguando nos momentos de dor e religando o homem Pós-moderno, consigo, com o outro e com Deus. Não se provou que a fé cura, mas sim que a religião, em todas as suas vertentes, pode solucionar casos para os quais a medicina não tem solução. Portanto, constata-se que constitui um suporte emocional, pelo que se pode corroborar que a espiritualidade deve ser incluída na nova definição de saúde da Organização Mundial de Saúde, indo de encontro à opinião do enfermeiro entrevistado, que afirma com ironia que nos momentos de agonia até um ateu clama por Deus.
With the advent of 2000, there emerged a new religiosity in Portugal, the angelology: angels reappeared as a link uniting people around feelings of forgiveness, equality and love, and symbolic paradigms of religious tolerance. They form a bridge between different religions: Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Gnosticism, Islam and Catholicism. Relating the angels with my area of MA appeared the title of my dissertation. Thus, the problem of this thesis was to know, how the angels, magic, the kabalah, faith and influence the healing of the sick, and that the contribution of faith in health promotion. Thisis indeed the starting point. Therefore, we chose to use qualitative research in this paper that the techniques used as semi-structured interviews and content analysis of these, for such, I approached followers of spiritualism, a former Umbanda, and a “Capuchinho” priest of the Catholic Church. I was able to prove the null hypothesis, because both the former Umbanda as the Spiritualists believe that angels have a positive influence for the health, good thoughts and help inspire others through his mediumship. The medium is a mensager of the entity, and the angel a mensager of God to all faiths studied. Only the Father revealed, implicitly, to know the Hebrew kabalah and the angelic hierarchy. There is practice of white magic, or just in the handling of Umbanda and smoking herbs. What the Umbanda classified as magic, priest and kardecists designate as a miracle. Healing through faith or spiritual healing, mediumship which uses the method and how to use the medium as a tool, is now accepted by some health professionals as an alternative medicine, with the most prominent example, Religion, states that the prayor as a mainstay of relief to the sick, calming in times of pain and reconnecting the postmodern man, himself, with others and with God. As not been proven that faith healing, but that religion in all its aspects, can resolve cases for which medicine has no solution. Therefore, it appears that is an emotional support, so we can confirm that spirituality should be included in the new definition of health from the World Health Organization, going against the opinion of nurses interviewed, who said with irony that in times of agony until God calls for an atheist.