The pragmatics of knowledge transfer

An HIV/Aids intervention with traditional health practitioners in South Africa

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2186641
AutoresJ Wreford (University of Cape Town, autor de correspondencia)
Año2009
Volumen32
Número1-2
Páginas37-47
Fecha de publicación2009-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAnthropology Southern Africa (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2332-3264 • E-ISSN: 2332-3256
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/23323256.2009.11499977
OpenAlexW2399427916
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas14

The persistence of the binary of scientific and indigenous or traditional medicine in contemporary South Africa is particularly unhelpful in the context of HIV/AIDS and encourages biomedical disengagement from a potentially helpful cohort of health professionals recognised within their communities. This article offers and discusses ethnographic evidence from Project HOPE, an HIV/AIDS intervention involving African traditional health practitioners (isiXhosa: amagqirha) in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The article suggests several possibilities of advantage to the efficacy of western medical interventions in this sort of collaborative approach. Testimony from participants from both paradigms is offered to support this assertion. The article includes a contextual examination of the debate about HIV/AIDS treatment in South Africa which explores the effects of confused interpretations of ‘traditional’ and scientific medicine in this regard

Family medicine · Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV · Intervention (counseling · Knowledge management · Knowledge transfer · Linguistics · Pragmatics · Sociology · Computer Science · Cultural Identity and Representation · HIV, TB, and STIs Epidemiology · Medicine · Nursing · Philosophy · Social Development and Education Research