Cross-cultural Healing: Connecting Ancestry, Culture, and Traditions in Our Physiatric Practices-Session Recording

Video Transcription

Video Summary

This panel discussion explores the integration of cross-cultural healing practices into modern medical care, particularly within physiatry. The session begins with Dr. Jennifer Young, who discusses the history and evolution of traditional medicine worldwide, explaining how Western biomedicine became dominant while integrative medicine combines conventional and complementary approaches to address holistic patient needs.<br /><br />Dr. Irene Estorrez then shares her approach to pain management, emphasizing the importance of understanding patients' stories beyond physical symptoms to include emotional, mental, and spiritual layers, likened to peeling an onion. She highlights ancestral qi and epigenetics to explain intergenerational trauma's impact.<br /><br />Dr. Deborah Bernal presents African cosmology, focusing on Orisha traditions that view health as a balance of physical, spiritual, and mental forces, and healing involving community rituals, herbal medicine, and honoring ancestors. She advocates for integrating these perspectives into healthcare.<br /><br />Dr. Monica Aceves discusses Mexican curanderismo, a folk healing tradition that blends Indigenous and Catholic beliefs. She emphasizes the role of curanderos as spiritual guides and their continued influence among Latinx populations. She notes challenges such as skepticism and cultural appropriation concerns.<br /><br />Dr. Zainab Allawadi offers an Islamic perspective, viewing illness and suffering as tests from God promoting spiritual growth, stressing community support, compassion, and respect for disability. She calls for sensitive end-of-life care tailored to patients' cultural backgrounds.<br /><br />The panelists engage in a rich discussion on common themes: the importance of understanding patients' sociocultural backgrounds, respecting diverse healing traditions, addressing stigma and shame in disability, and fostering whole-person healing that includes spirit, mind, body, and community. They urge clinicians to foster open, nonjudgmental dialogues, incorporate cultural humility, and collaborate with traditional healers to optimize patient-centered care.

Keywords

cross-cultural healing

modern medical care

physiatry

traditional medicine

Western biomedicine

integrative medicine

pain management

ancestral qi

epigenetics

intergenerational trauma

African cosmology

Orisha traditions

Mexican curanderismo

Islamic perspective on illness

cultural humility