Traditional African Healing Ceremony in a U.S. Population

October 31, 2014 updated by: Duke University
Pre-agricultural societies almost universally used healing ceremonies that involved reverence, rhythm and dance in the presence of a healer. It is believed that we are "wired" for such experiences and they foster an integrative mode of consciousness similar to that of mindfulness based stress reduction, which has been shown to have therapeutic effects in a variety of conditions. Collaborator Ava Lavonne Vinesett of the Duke Dance Program has developed a healing ceremony based in sub-Saharan African traditions. The investigators plan is to have 25 subjects with a variety of clinical conditions participate in this ceremony. Subjects will then be asked to write a commentary about their experience and to participate in a focus group discussion. It is anticipated that the study will give us some idea of how promising this approach would be and what kinds of patients might benefit. Safety issues are minimal and include the possibility of injury (though the dancing is not strenuous) and psychological distress.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

17

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • North Carolina
      • Durham, North Carolina, United States, 27710
        • Duke University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

25 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age 25 to 65 with one of the diagnoses listed above or with 8 visits to their provider in the last year and with no diagnosis of chronic illness.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • physical disability making participation difficult and previous experience with a similar ceremony, for instance while growing up in Africa.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Movement with rhythm
Subjects will move for 1 hour in time to the Congolese rhythm called Zebola.
Behavioral: Movement to rhythm
Movement to rhythm

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Report from each participant as to whether they found the experience positive, neutral or negative.
Time Frame: During the first hour after the intervention
During the first hour after the intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
written narrative of experience
Time Frame: During the first hour after the intervention
During the first hour after the intervention

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Encounter group discussion
Time Frame: During the first hour after the intervention
During the first hour after the intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Duke University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Kenneth Wilson, MD, Duke University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

May 1, 2014

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 5, 2013

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 6, 2013

First Posted (Estimate)

June 10, 2013

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

November 2, 2014

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 31, 2014

Last Verified

October 1, 2014

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Pro00042492

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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