Asante Art and Culture in the Administration of Asante Traditional Medicine in the Ashanti Region
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Date
2020-10
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KNUST
Abstract
ABSTRACT
The primary aim of the study was to investigate the role art and culture play in the administration of traditional medicine in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, and to analyse the positive aspects of the medicine so as to help erase the negative perception that exists about it. The primarily intention of the study stems from the fact that art and cultural activities that serve as a vehicle for curing diseases have almost been completely overlooked when it comes to the analysis and appreciation of traditional medicine. Even though the arts and cultural elements are interwoven with the medicine, their linkage has not been appreciated by a large number of people to the point of even portraying it as evil or fetish. The qualitative method of collecting and analysing data was utilized. In the selection process, the respondents were first accessed by the help of the chain method. They were then purposively sampled and categorised into four different strata due to their varied characteristics. In all, a sample size of 90 was used for the study. Interviews and observation were the main data collection instruments used. Results showed that, the art and cultural elements are indispensable and have great medical ethos relevant to the medicine. The traditional medication is a doable platform for redeeming people physically, psychologically and spiritually. The medicine will forever be part and parcel of the people of Ashanti Region and for that matter Ghanaian healthcare delivery system, since it is practised in the context of the religion and forms part of the peopleās culture. In view of this, the government and the stakeholders should give recognition to these diviners and spiritual healers by dedicating special health facilities for them to operate in and providing them with the necessary needs like what they have been providing for the orthodox health centres. Moreover, the Ministry of Health with support from government and the stakeholders should affiliate the traditional numinous centres to the orthodox ones. These two centres should work hand in hand where spiritual cases which cannot be cured by the orthodox centres will be referred to the traditional hospital and vice versa.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department of Educational Innovations in Science and
Technology, Kumasi in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN AFRICAN ART AND CULTURE