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The purpose of this study is to investigate psychotherapists’ perspectives on collaborations with curanderxs that may improve patient outcomes. All participants have licensed psychotherapists (marriage and family therapist, social work and psychology), between ages 40 and 60 years, and spoke both English and Spanish. They had a wide range of experience practicing in the field (5 to 33 years), the number of clients they had worked with of Mexican descent (10 to 2,000), and times they had collaborated with curanderxs (2 to 3 to more than 40). Interviews lasted 2 h.

Phenomenological methodology was followed in conducting interviews with eight mainstream mental health practitioners and in identifying codes and themes from the interviews.

Collaboration between psychotherapists and curanderxs is rare. Few mental health training programs provide basic information on curanderismo or on how clinicians might integrate concepts related to indigenous healing approaches into their practices or collaborate with traditional healers. Substantial mistrust between psychotherapists and curanderxs is apparent and impedes collaboration.

The authors believe this to be one of the first integrative models that can provide guidance to services providers who would like to collaborate with traditional healers, not only with Latinx populations but also populations that seek traditional healers for physical, psychological and spiritual healing. Based on study findings, the authors offer educational, clinical and public policy recommendations.

Disorders of speech and language include myriad diagnoses that vary in incidence and prevalence across age span and cultures. Disorders can range from those that do not impinge upon general communication, learning or psychosocial function, such as a mild speech disturbance, like a lisp, to global aphasia with a complete lack of communication ability. The short- and long-term effects of these impairments are often directly related to the age at onset, duration, co-morbidities, access to intervention by qualified professionals, and the societal response to the disability. In cultures that take a dim view of any type of deviation from the norm, there may be less access to diagnosis and treatment, as well as a hesitancy to seek out available options for treatment. Additionally, for those countries in which there are larger issues of general health, economic support, and quality of care, the nature of the disability may receive little or no attention simply due to national priorities or limited access to resources. Although, globally, disorders of speech and language are not exclusively limited to those countries with poorer health outcomes, in general, speech and language services may be less accessible or absent in poverty-stricken nations of the world. In many cases, these countries are at greater risk for many of the disorders simply due to environmental and social conditions, such as lack of early access to health care and preventative interventions. This chapter explores Global Perspectives on Speech and Language Impairments.

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as a topic of research and as an approach within the health care delivery system has become increasingly accepted. Aided by the holistic movement, and after a century and a half of striving for legitimacy, CAM is also increasingly becoming more accepted by mainstream medicine. This chapter reviews the social sources of disparities in use of CAM, with a greater focus on English-speaking countries, and especially the US. This chapter will briefly highlight the basic underlying principles of CAM as linked to its history and discuss types of CAM. The major focus of this chapter will be a review of the literature on social factors and use of CAM, looking at such factors as age, gender, socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity and immigration status, and health status. As part of this, we will also discuss the integration of CAM and conventional care. In conclusion, future directions for social science research in CAM will be discussed, specifically elaborating on the importance of the social sciences linking CAM with other growing interests in health and wellness.

This cooperative alliance between a university and a nonprofit, private organization was initiated with the goal of developing capacity building measures for improving medical health and welfare in the rural village of Ocoroni in Northern Sinaloa, Mexico. Drawing from the literature on organization development and action research, it provides a detailed overview of the design and implementation of the work which was involved in this collaborative partnership. The outcomes are presented and with accomplishments noted, indicating that the initiative had a positive impact for the local community in Ocoroni, while simultaneously providing research opportunities and cross-cultural learning for faculty, graduate students, healthcare practitioners, volunteers, residents from the village and others who were involved the project.