Magnus Mfoafo-M’cArthy

INTRODUCTION: Research on dementia caregiving in Africa often prioritizes biomedical and formal health‐care services, overlooking broader family and community‐based support networks. Addressing this gap, this study explores when and which support services Yoruba families use and how these services shape their caregiving experiences within the dementia care context. METHODS: Guided by interpretive phenomenology and Afrocentric principles, we conducted 15 semi‐structured family interviews with 52 participants (2–5 per family), alongside persons with dementia. Interviews were audio‐recorded, translated, and thematically analyzed. RESULTS: Help seeking often began when behavioral symptoms became overwhelming. Urban families ( n = 11) leaned on hospital services, while rural families ( n = 4) turned to faith‐based and traditional healers. Support was appreciated for offering reassurance, though hospital services often lacked cultural sensitivity, and traditional options—while fostering hope—could reinforce stigma. DISCUSSION: Enhancing dementia awareness and collaboration between medical, spiritual, and traditional systems may improve caregiver experiences and encourage earlier, culturally appropriate interventions. Highlights: Yoruba families caring for loved ones with dementia do not adhere to rigid care pathways. Instead, they move fluidly between hospitals, religious spaces, and traditional healing practices—not just in search of treatment but to find meaning, reassurance, and continuity with ancestral ways of knowing. Memory loss is not always seen as a medical condition; it is often interpreted through spiritual, cultural, and communal lenses. Families may turn to faith leaders or elders first, delaying formal care until behaviors become disruptive or socially visible. Our interpretive phenomenological analysis, grounded in an Afrocentric lens, reveals caregiving as both an expression of love and a weighty responsibility. The ever‐present fear of judgment—from within and outside the family—can lead to silence, isolation, and hesitation in seeking biomedical support. A more compassionate and culturally anchored dementia care model requires health‐care professionals, traditional healers, and faith leaders to work together. Through dialogue and mutual respect, they can create care networks that honor Yoruba worldviews, allowing families to navigate dementia in ways that feel both medically sound and spiritually resonant.

This chapter examines the mental well-being of racialized immigrants and refugees in Canada, The paper argues that Canada’s current immigration policy accepts immigrants and refugees from different parts of the world who end up faced with challenges associated with acculturation and the stressors involving the immigration process and resettlement. It explains the trajectory of migration; pre-migration, migration, and post-migration, and discusses their impact on the mental health and of immigrants The chapter concludes with recommendations on ways to ameliorate these challenges and suggests guidelines for support through cultural brokers, interpreters, policymakers, and consultation with community organizations.

Through the years, there has been regular discourse among African social work scholars regarding the production of indigenous knowledge in Africa. Most of the arguments hold that social work knowledge creation and production is often based on Eurocentric approaches due to the dearth of African-centered social work literature from the continent. This paper attempts to explore the intellectual and philosophical underpinnings of African-centered social work education and practice. Using Ghana as a case study, information is provided on theoretical and conceptual thought processes about African-centered social work education in response to the shortage of insights pertaining to African culture. By means of purposive and availability sampling, we recruited three graduate students to be interviewed. The interviews were analyzed using thematic inquiry. We explored African paradigms and argued that the practice of social work education on the continent of Africa should not be based on the Eurocentric approaches only, to the detriment of traditional African ways of knowing. We believe that for social work education in Africa to thrive, we should embrace indigenous African practices and values of spirituality, collectivity, interconnectedness and reciprocity.

This paper provides insights from experiences in data gathering and recruitment from two research projects on disability/mental health in Ghana. The focus of the study explores stigma amongst individuals diagnosed with mental illness and their caregivers. The study investigates the positioning of the researcher in a superior light by participants which often wrests power from those who should be considered the true experts of their own circumstances. Inequality in the interview process thus carried the risk of impacting the quality of the data, as some participants did not consider themselves as ‘experts’ of their condition. The paper explores strategies for addressing these challenges of hierarchy and inequality in the research process in the Global South. Based on the study, we report on our experiences as follows: (1) ensuring that participants are empowered to engage with researchers; and (2) training local researchers to engage in culturally sensitive research processes.

Despite advances in human rights and treatments, stigma toward individuals diagnosed with mental illness is common across the African continent. This article explores experiences of stigma and social exclusion among individuals diagnosed with mental illness and receiving treatment in a psychiatric facility in Ghana. The study, based on in-depth, semi-structured interviews generated the following themes: beliefs in spiritual causes of mental illness; spirituality as a coping mechanism; mistreatment and abuse. The findings highlight the significance of social exclusion and spirituality as the main roots of stigma; also the importance of awareness-raising as tools for anti-stigma work in the global South.

This article analyses the struggle for disability rights in Ghana by offering a window into the lived experience of physically disabled Ghanaians in the Akyem Abuakwa traditional area of Ghana’s Eastern Region. Utilizing grassroots narratives of sixteen participants, the article focuses on the themes of financial and social support to illuminate the challenges facing disabled individuals in a peri-urban area of Southern Ghana. The analysis engages with the concept of Ubuntu, which focuses a lens on traditional African community as a natural and inherently good vehicle for social inclusion. Using the idea of community as a frame of reference, we present a brief historical overview, followed by data from sixteen interviews to explore the connection between socio-economic change, community dynamics and disability rights. We conclude by arguing that the data raises questions about the revival of traditional communal bonds as a solution to social exclusion produced by disability.