Western Biomedicine and Local Healing Systems: Between Resistance and Integration In Promoting Public Health

Ensuring public health is a major task of healthcare systems. As population health is a comprehensive biopsychosocial concept, the local cultural environment, which is currently highlighted, should be considered when building a public healthcare system. The session investigates the worldwide integration of Western medicine and indigenous or local healing-centered traditions, including national cases as well as common challenges and opportunities for various global regions. Special attention is given to possible tensions between biomedical models and culturally based traditional local practices, where colonial legacy, power imbalance, and fragmented healthcare regulation undermine epistemic and sociostructural legitimacy. The session explores whether recognizing the epistemic value of local contexts and responsibly incorporating them into the healthcare framework has an impact on trust in healthcare organizations, cultural sensitivity, or improved health equity — through the lens of the healthcare system’s mission to strengthen population health as a biopsychosocial concept. We welcome presentations covering the practices of integration that allow for complementarity and dialogue while also addressing local cultural determinants of wellness, which directly affect public health promotion.