Browsing by Author "Mather, Charles Maurice"

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    An ethnoarchaeology of kusasi shrines, upper east region, Ghana
    (1999) Mather, Charles Maurice; David, Nicholas C.
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    An Ethnographic Study of Interprofessional Collaboration in Palliative Care
    (2024-01-09) Forsyth, Erin Christine; Raffin Bouchal, Donna Shelley; Sinclair, Shane Aaron; White, Deborah Elizabeth; Mather, Charles Maurice
    Background: The concept of the modern palliative care movement was initially developed by Cecily Saunders. She believed that the complex emotional, physical, and spiritual needs of dying patients and their families were best met by a team of professionals working together rather than a sole practitioner. Today local, national, and international definitions of palliative care remain grounded in the philosophy established by Saunders, where care is most effectively delivered by an interprofessional team working in a collaborative manner to support patient and family centred goals. Research Aim: The purpose of this study was to better understand the differences in interprofessional collaboration between palliative care teams in different clinical settings. The research questions were: 1) Do palliative care providers believe interprofessional collaboration is important? and 2) What are the contextual factors that act as either facilitators or barriers to the implementation of interprofessional collaboration in practice? Methods: A qualitative ethnographic methodology was used to understand the factors impacting interprofessional collaboration in three separate teams providing palliative care in different settings in a city in Western Canada. Data were collected and analyzed using Carspecken’s five step process for ethnographic research. Participant observation and focus groups were conducted with interprofessional team members responsible for providing direct care for palliative care patients/families. Findings: Five themes emerged from the data: Interprofessional Collaboration: A Central Tenet of Palliative Care; Interprofessional Communication: The Single Most Important Ingredient for Effective Interprofessional Collaboration; Professional Hierarchy Impacts Interprofessional Collaboration; Role Understanding and Valuing Others; and Facilitators and Barriers to Team Function. Discussion: Findings from this study can be used to better understand how individual, professional, and organizational culture impacts teamwork in the delivery of palliative care and supports opportunities for understanding and mitigating the barriers to interprofessional collaboration in palliative care settings. The structure and values of the team impact interprofessional collaboration: how communication is enacted; how the hierarchy of the team influences who is viewed as having the ultimate authority over care; and how role understanding and valuing others drives interactions with other members of the team.
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    Practice of Traditional Bonesetters (TBS) and People’s Decisions to Seek Treatment for Fractures from TBS Among the Frafras of Northern Ghana
    (2024-04-24) Alika, Nerius; Mather, Charles Maurice; Mather, Charles Maurice; Apentiik, Rowland Caesar; Stapleton, Timothy; Venkataraman, Vivek
    Using traditional and biomedical systems in times of fractures is a common phenomenon in contemporary Ghana. This paper documents the practices of Traditional Bonesetters (TBS) and the decisions people make to use TBS services to treat fractures in the ethnomedical context. Drawing from interviews with and observations of ten TBS, and interviews with 20 nonpractitioners, this study provides a descriptive account of traditional bone-setting. Results indicate that traditional bone-setting is based on knowledge that practitioners learn and pass on through word of mouth and apprenticeship training from one generation to another. Treatment methods involve manual manipulation to achieve anatomical alignment, massaging, immobilisation, and applying certain substances that have bone healing powers. These methods are similar to those that biomedical practitioners use to treat patients with fractures. However, in exceptional cases, TBS use symbolic rituals to deal with supernatural forces that play a role in causing injury. People subscribe to TBS because practitioners are easily accessible and hence provide prompt service. They also patronise TBS because of cheaper costs and their trust and belief in the efficacy of TBS methods. Although Ghanaians have already mentally integrated traditional bone-setting and biomedical practice, the two (health care) systems are yet to be formally combined. This research can be the meeting point for possible biomedical training for TBS and vice versa and facilitate the integration of traditional bone-setting with biomedicine in the trajectory of the health care system.