Folk Beliefs About Illness in Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment, A Case of "Roots"
Author: Hanes, Robert
This module describes the processes of assessment, diagnosis, in-patient treatment, and follow-up of an acutely psychotic young Black male patient whose presenting complaints included the idea that he and his mother had been "rooted" and the historical report that they had seen a "rootwoman." The significance of these ideas and behaviors for clinical processes are explored at each step in the clinical care process, with questions the clinical staff might have posed for themselves at each step, and, then, further elucidation of those questions emerging in subsequent material. The purpose is to provide some guidelines for accurate assessment and diagnosis and effective treatment of clients who are influenced in their perceptions and management of their problems by folk systems of conceptualization, explanation and management of the condition about which they complain.
This module describes the processes of assessment, diagnosis, in-patient treatment, and follow-up of an acutely psychotic young Black male patient whose presenting complaints included the idea that he and his mother had been "rooted" and the historical report that they had seen a "rootwoman." The significance of these ideas and behaviors for clinical processes are explored at each step in the clinical care process, with questions the clinical staff might have posed for themselves at each step, and, then, further elucidation of those questions emerging in subsequent material. The purpose is to provide some guidelines for accurate assessment and diagnosis and effective treatment of clients who are influenced in their perceptions and management of their problems by folk systems of conceptualization, explanation and management of the condition about which they complain.
