Conceptualization of African Primal Health Care in mental health

Abstract

To date African indigenous community make use of indigenous practices of promoting health and facilitating healing. The current primary health care system created a program called primary health re-engineering of which the health care providers do home visits and thus take the health services to the community. However, from time immemorial, the indigenous community had their own health practices (primal health practices) unique to their own community whereby the continent mother Africa provided plants for medicinal purposes as well as nutrition. What the current health care system is doing is just returning the practices back to the community. The ultimate goal of this study is towards enhancing co-existence of both primal health care system and the western health care system with equal recognition and acknowledgement. Because indigenous knowledge system research is still at its infancy stage, conceptualization of common terms used is necessary to ensure consistency. The study conceptualises African primal health care within mental health and make use of a qualitative method. Principle based concept analysis was used and five principles namely: philosophy, epistemology, pragmatic, linguistic and logical principles were used to conceptualise the concept African primal health care. The term 'primal' was coined during a colloquium in Lesotho by Dr Mbulawa and the Seboka team members. Seboka team members (indigenous knowledge system researchers) were selected as the study population as they are the most knowledgeable people regarding the concept African primal health care. African primal health care was conceptualized as a communal based care, initiated by the community, for the community making use of natural resources such as medicinal plants to facilitate healing and promote wellbeing. African primal mental health case thus included holistic viewing of the community norms and values and involvement of the community in the healing process.