Traditional African Healing Ceremony in a U.S. Population

NCT01873482 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: Pro00042492
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 17
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

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.

Conditions

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome; Anxiety; Depression; Cancer

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Report from each participant as to whether they found the experience positive, neutral or negative.

  During the first hour after the intervention

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• written narrative of experience

  During the first hour after the intervention

Other Outcomes (1)

• Encounter group discussion

  During the first hour after the intervention

Study Arms (1)

Movement with rhythm

EXPERIMENTAL

Subjects will move for 1 hour in time to the Congolese rhythm called Zebola.

Behavioral: Movement to rhythm

Interventions

Movement to rhythm BEHAVIORAL

Movement to rhythm

Movement with rhythm

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 25 Years - 65 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• 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.

You may not qualify if:

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

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Duke University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Duke University

Durham, North Carolina, 27710, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic; Anxiety Disorders; Depression; Neoplasms

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Muscular Diseases; Musculoskeletal Diseases; Encephalomyelitis; Neuroinflammatory Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Neuromuscular Diseases; Chronic Disease; Disease Attributes; Pathologic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Mental Disorders; Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior

Study Officials

• Kenneth Wilson, MD

  Duke University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 5, 2013
• First Posted: June 10, 2013
• Study Start: May 1, 2014
• Primary Completion: May 1, 2014
• Last Updated: November 3, 2014

Record last verified: 2014-10

Locations

US (1)