Overview

The intersections between arts, creativity and health are of significant importance in the humanities and social sciences. Arts and health research, for example, suggests that the arts offer participatory and transformational alternatives to traditional health communication. However, concepts and methods are predominantly informed by Global North research, and critical insights from arts traditions elsewhere remain to be fully integrated into common models. Ghana offers a unique case study for examining local and global dynamics in arts-based health communication, because of the country's rich art traditions as well as its place in global history and in the global imagination. Healing art forms like music and sculpture have evolved through intentional cross-cultural borrowings, as well as through changes imposed through slavery, colonialism and post-colonial political systems. Selling Healing tells a polyvocal story of how Ghanaian art forms intersect with health, illness and healing, inviting a re-imagining of health communication in global health.

Full Product Details

9781009244428

Table of Contents

Reviews

'Too often, global narratives about Africa are flattened into tales of crisis: war, famine, disease. Selling Healing challenges this, offering instead a textured portrait of Ghanaians' knowledge systems, creativity, and health practices. The result is a book that reclaims the continent's voice and presents Ghana and Africa with nuance, beauty and complexity.' Hibbah Osei-Kwasi, Senior Lecturer Nutrition and Public Health, Loughborough University, UK 'A powerful and timely reminder of how deeply Ghana's HIV response has always been shaped by culture, storytelling, and living experience - and why these elements remain essential today.' Lord Dartey, Head of Ethics Office, UNAIDS '[This book] offers a timely and compelling examination of how Ghana's creative arts and indigenous healing traditions can fundamentally reshape health communication, particularly in responding to complex challenges such as HIV and AIDS.' Richard N. Amenyah, Country Director, UNAIDS

Author Information

Ama de-Graft Aikins is Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Ghana Legon and a Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics. She was a British Academy Global Professor, based at University College London's Institute of Advanced Studies, between 2019 and 2023.

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