Local Indigenous Knowledge: Community Grandmothers Lead the Way Summary: “We don’t take time to look at the local indigenous knowledge and the wisdom that is inherent in every culture,” she says. “I can also imagine therapists and doctors reacting negatively because they’re thinking, I have a real degree in this.”
Speaker 1
But just the thought then, there are lots of community grandmothers here who have been involved in outreach programs. How about I start with just 14 grandmothers from this community and see what we can do? It was also quite skeptical, but when you think you’re onto something, you kind of keep going.
Speaker 2
I can also imagine therapists and doctors reacting negatively because they’re thinking, I have a real degree in this. I’m actually trained and now you’re telling me that grandmas can do my job for me.
Speaker 7
Did you hear any of that kind of response? Yes, I heard a lot of that kind of response.
Speaker 1
But you see, that’s where I think the problem we have with today’s education, where we see everything through the lens of academia and academics, particularly from the Northern Hemisphere. And we don’t take time to look at the local indigenous knowledge and the wisdom that is inherent in every culture. I mean, one of the things that I really learned from the grandmothersEngaging with Communities for Mental Health: Using Local Language to Remove Stigma Key takeaways: • When engaging with communities, it’s important to use their own language and idioms of distress to remove stigma. • Stigma is one of the biggest problems in mental health in this part of the world. • Adopting Western terms for mental health can be stigmatizing in certain cultures.
Speaker 1
I was given 14 grandmothers who were not very excited about working with me initially.
Speaker 7
Can you tell me more about that?
Speaker 1
Well, you know, when I approached them, I had my psychiatrist hat. And over time, over the years, I’ve realized that when you really want to engage with communities, you need to take off your professional hat. You really want to heal people who are traumatized in this part of the world. You need to rely on the local language, the local idioms of distress and just use the language that resonates with communities. Because when you use their own language, you instantly remove stigma. Because stigma is one of the biggest problems that we face in mental health. And in this part of the world, stigma is brought about because we’re trying to adopt terms that are used in the Western world. You know, if you talk about depression in my country, people think you’ve lost it yourself. People don’t believe there’s depression. People think that depression is something that just doesn’t happen to people in this part of the world.Grandmothers in Community-Based Therapy: Selecting One Problem to Focus On Summary: The therapy component is the ability of the grandmothers to help clients select one problem to focus on. The actual treatment is often not only on the bench, but it also occurs in the community. So I’ll see you this Sunday at church, and you and I can pray together. You’re slowly introducing a very practical kind of behavior activated to help someone who is depressed and unmotivated.
Speaker 1
I’m HIV positive, I’m unemployed, I’m in an abusive relationship, I have a child who is not able to go to school because I don’t have money to pay for school fees, I’m struggling to feed My family, so they present with numerous problems. And one of the things that has really characterized the therapy component is the ability to help these clients who come to the bench after sharing these stories, the ability of the grandmothers To help them select one problem to focus on. And that sounds very simple, but actually when you’re immersed in all these problems, every single one of those problems is a big problem for you. So, because the grandmothers live in these communities, the actual treatment is often not only on the bench, but it also occurs in the community, so you can get a grandmother meeting A client, for instance, a church. So I’ll see you this Sunday at church, and you and I can pray together. I will see you at the market, and we can do this together so you’re slowly introducing a very practical kind of behavior activation to help someone who is depressed and unmotivated and Isolating themselves at home because they feel they are in this miserable situation, but because the grandmother has
