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

Abstract

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.

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

“…With psychological problems, many find the explanations and treatments offered by STM more trustworthy [ 9 ]. Earlier studies in other contexts [ 8 ] show that individuals´ preferences for consulting traditional healers for psychosomatic and psychological problems are due to the understanding of the traditional healer of the patient’s context [ 8 ]. TM has a cultural affinity, and to many TM is more trustworthy and less stigmatising than the health-care services and is in line with the Sámi culture, particularly with regard to psychological problems.…”

“…TM has a cultural affinity, and to many TM is more trustworthy and less stigmatising than the health-care services and is in line with the Sámi culture, particularly with regard to psychological problems. This has also been widely studied in northern Norway and other contexts [ 8 , 13 , 29 , 32–34 ].…”

“…In older literature, some more descriptions on STM are available [ 17–19 ]. A recent review study on the contemporary situation of STM in Sweden shows a few peer-reviewed scientific reports and scientific studies on STM in either English or Swedish [ 8 , 15 ]. From a grey-literature perspective, a recent tri-lingual description of Sámi TM has been published by the Sámi author and artist Anita Ponga [ 16 ].…”

Tobacco use among Kola Sámi, the indigenous people of the Murmansk region, Russia: A cross-sectional study

“…This can indicate degree of distance from traditional beliefs due to assimilation to non-Sámi European beliefs and practices. Literature on Indigenous People’s smoking behaviour and Indigenous holistic health models include spiritual wellbeing as a determinant of health [ 19 ] and health behaviours such as smoking [ 20 ].…”