Negotiating Mistrust : Patients and Healers Across Traditional, Islamic, and Biomedical Health Sectors of Niger.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Youngstedt, Scott.

Contributor:

Gottlieb, Alma.

Series:

Contemporary Ethnography Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Medical care--Niger--Niamey.

Medical care.

Traditional medicine--Niger--Niamey.

Traditional medicine.

Medicine--Religious aspects--Islam.

Medicine.

Integrative medicine--Social aspects--Niger--Niamey.

Integrative medicine.

Physician and patient--Niger--Niamey.

Physician and patient.

Trust--Social aspects--Niger--Niamey.

Trust.

Genre:

Ethnographies

Physical Description:

1 online resource (239 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, 2026.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Unravels the complexity of pervasive mistrust across the primary medical sectors of Niger Negotiating Mistrust examines a wide diversity of patients and healers--and interactions between them--in Niamey, Niger through the analytical prism of mistrust. It offers a holistic study of the medical landscape in Niamey by focusing on the intersections between three medical sectors: traditional, Islamic, and biomedical.Scott M. Youngstedt asserts that nuanced analysis of the interplay between mistrust and trust is key to understanding the decisions that health-seeking Nigériens make among the multiple options available to them, while recognizing that in one of the world's very poorest countries, many forms of biomedical care--and some traditional and Islamic medicine--are unaffordable to most people. He demonstrates that mistrust and trust are not mutually exclusive, usually not absolute but exist on a fluid continuum, involve cognitive and affective dimensions, and are shaped by shifting historical, contemporary, and personal contexts. Medical mistrust often functions as a pragmatic, defensive attitude of engagement with uncertainty and risk. Mistrust complicates medical decision-making, but Nigériens are not paralyzed by it. Despite pervasive mistrust of medical systems and institutions, medicines, and healers of all sectors for diverse historical reasons, tens of thousands of Nigériens consult with and purchase medicines from healers daily on the streets of Niamey because their determination to get well helps them overcome their skepticism. Since people in Niamey are often mistrustful of medical care of all three sectors, practitioners must exert enormous energy earning potential patients' trust. Negotiating Mistrust focuses on the careers of generalist practitioners--healers who treat thirty or more conditions ranging from everyday annoyances to life-threatening problems--of all three sectors who work on the street and in roadside boutiques.Medical mistrust in various forms is widespread, possibly even universal. This focused study of the medical mistrust-trust dynamic in Niger yields important insights into health care interactions and medical decision-making worldwide.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

List of Illustrations

Introduction

Chapter 1. A Brief History of Medical Pluralism in Niamey, 1900-2024

Chapter 2. Heat-Cold: The Quest for Balance in a Turbulent World

Chapter 3. Developing and Perpetuating Mistrust

Chapter 4. Navigating Medical Mistrust and Medical Pluralism in Niger

Chapter 5. Overcoming Mistrust

Chapter 6. Expressing Doubts About COVID-19 and Fear of Vaccinations in Niger

Conclusion. Taking Mistrust Seriously: Living with Uncertainty in Chaotic Times

Notes

References

Index

Acknowledgments

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Other Format:

Print version: Youngstedt, Scott Negotiating Mistrust

ISBN:

9781512828849

OCLC:

1559561633