Sámi traditional medicine and complementary and alternative medicine - a descriptive study of use within the Sámi population of Sweden.

Traditional medicine has been practised for millennia in the Sámi population, based on a Sámi worldview and cosmology, which includes natural remedies, prayers, drums and yoik singing. During the Christianisation of the Sámi during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, these practices were condemned. In recent years, however, a revival of Sámi culture has occurred and so has the practice of Sámi traditional medicine (STM) and the use of complementary alternative medicine (CAM). The aim of this study is to map the prevalence and use of STM and CAM among Sámi in Sweden today. The study population consisted of 3641 Sámi from the whole of Sweden, who had participated in the population-based cross-sectional survey Sámi Health on Equal Terms (SámiHET) in 2021. Our results show that women are more prone to use both STM and CAM than men and that younger persons are more likely to use STM and CAM than elderly persons. STM is more often used in the northern parts of Sápmi compared to the southern parts as well as a lower use of CAM in the north. This might be due to the stronger Sámi identity and easier access to traditional Sámi healers/helpers in the north as well as limited access to CAM services.

'HIV ended up in second place' - prioritizing social integration in the shadow of social exclusion: an interview study with migrants living with HIV in Sweden.

BACKGROUND: Migrants are overrepresented among people living with HIV in Sweden as they often face conditions that increased their risk and vulnerability for HIV/STI infections prior, during or after migration. Yet, there is limited research on their experiences and perceptions of living with HIV in the Swedish context. This study aims to explore migrants' experiences of living with HIV in Sweden. METHODS: This is a qualitative study based on in-depth interviews with 13 migrants from 11 countries living with HIV in Sweden. Interviews were analysed with thematic analysis using an intersectional perspective to explore the interactions of multiple social identities such as ethnicity, socio-economic status, gender, age, and sexual orientation that shape an individual's or group's experiences. RESULTS: The analysis resulted in a main theme: 'Prioritizing social integration-HIV ends up in second place', which is based on four subthemes: 'Better opportunities in the new country than what the home country could offer', 'Better conditions for LGBTQI people than in the home country', 'Navigating a new system: linguistic and bureaucratic challenges' and 'Feeling like a second-class resident: racism, xenophobia and multiple discrimination'. The results suggest that migrants living with HIV in Sweden experience social integration as a greater challenge than HIV infection. Although the new country offers opportunities for better living conditions, many participants described being challenged in their daily life by linguistic and structural barriers in their encounters with public services. They are facing multiple discrimination simultaneously as migrants due to their multiple and intersecting identities (e.g. being non-white, foreigners/foreign-born and non-Swedish speakers), which is compounded by HIV status and thus limit their opportunities in the new country and too often result in an existence of exclusion. CONCLUSION: The study shows that most of the challenges that migrants living with HIV face are related to their status as migrants rather than HIV status, which is often not known by the public or authorities. These challenges are similar, but still differ depending on social position, previous experiences, time since arrival and since diagnosis. This emphasizes the importance of both intersectional, intersectoral and multisectoral approaches to address reported issues.

Intergenerational Learning Processes of Traditional Medicinal Knowledge and Socio-Spatial Transformation Dynamics.

The transfer of traditional knowledge to new generations of traditional medicinal practitioners takes place through place-based intergenerational learning processes, which are increasingly challenged by intensified rural-urban migrations and accelerating biodiversity loss. Research on traditional medicinal knowledge (TMK) has mainly focused on the medicinal properties of different plant species while social, economic, and locational aspects of TMK learning processes have received less attention. The purpose of this article is to contribute to the research field by examining how the learning processes of TMK are affected by on-going socio-spatial transformations in rural and urban parts of the Eastern Lake Victoria region. Urbanization and migration are transforming the learning processes of TMK and affect the ways traditional practitioners are able to transfer TMK to a new generation of practitioners. Based on in-depth interviews, participant observations and focus group discussions with male and female traditional practitioners aged between 30 and 95 from rural and urban settings in Mwanza (Tanzania) and Nyanza (Kenya) in the Eastern Lake Victoria Region. The study analyzes the role of socio-spatial and migration dynamics on major intergenerational forms of learning of TMK (learning in place; being sent; ritual places); health knowledge diffusion and interactions between TMK and formal health systems. Despite some major challenges to the continuity of TMK learning due to increased migration identified by the traditional practitioners, many also saw emerging roles for TMK in primary health care for sustainable livelihoods for the younger generations of men and women in this region.

Sámi traditional medicine: practices, usage, benefit, accessibility and relation to conventional medicine, a scoping review study.

The Sámi Indigenous populations, who live in the arctic Sápmi area across four countries - Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia - have practiced traditional medicine (TM) for millennia. However, today Sámi TM is unknown within the Swedish health care services (HCS). The aim of this study is to describe the nature and scope of research conducted on Sámi TM among the four Sápmi countries. This study covers peer-reviewed research published in the English language up to 8 April 2020. From 15 databases, 240 abstracts were identified, and 19 publications met the inclusion criteria for full review. Seventeen studies were conducted in Norway, one in Finland and one in Sweden, none in Russia. In northern Norway, Sámi TM is actively used by the local communities, and is claimed to be effective, but is not accessible within HCS. Holistic worldviews, including spirituality, prevail in Sámi TM from practitioners' selection criteria to health care practices to illness responsibilities. An integration of Sámi TM into HCS is clearly the desire of local communities. Comparisons were made between Sámi TM and conventional medicine on worldviews, on perspectives towards each other, and on integration. More studies are needed in Sweden, Finland and Russia.