Women in Traditional Healthcare in Contemporary Ghana: Evidence from the Volta and Oti Regions
Samuel Bewiadzi Akakpo 
& Richard Awubomu
Issue: Vol.6 No.11 Article 12 pp. 2873 – 2887
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.202561112 | Published online 31st October, 2025
© 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
This study employed the qualitative method to study two indigenous women healers in Ghana – a traditional bone setter and a priestess healer. Placing the discussion within gender perspectives, the study chronicled the biography of these healers in the Volta and Oti regions of Ghana, their knowledge acquisition, healing practices, and the challenges that they face. The study found that the bone setter’s knowledge of healing was a family heritage, while the priestess acquired the shrine for reproductive purposes. The two practitioners have healed many patients in their communities in the areas of bone fractures and infertility issues. However, finance, poor record keeping, spiritual attacks, health challenges, and depletion of medicinal plants were identified as challenges confronting the female traditional healthcare practitioners in their respective communities. The study concludes that women, through their immense contribution to primary healthcare, support their family economy and provide a balance in a male-chauvinistic healthcare system. They therefore engage in their healing practices to navigate the male corridors of power and domain. This study contributes to scholarship on medical anthropology by discussing the role of women traditional healers in contemporary Ewe and Krachi societies. It also contributes to knowledge production in the field of gender studies, drawing insights from two distinct yet related geographical settings.
Keywords: Women in Traditional Healthcare, Healing Practices, Gender Roles, Traditional Bone Setter, Priestess Healer
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Hon. Samuel Bewiadzi Akakpo is a Medical Anthropologist and Lecturer at the Department of General and Liberal Studies, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho (Ghana). He holds a Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Philosophy degrees in African Studies from the University of Ghana, Legon; and a Bachelor of Arts degree in African Studies (University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast). His research interests span medical anthropology with specialties in traditional bone setting, African traditional medicine, societies, cultures and health, and indigenous folklore & healthcare. He also focuses on Ewe ethno-history, contemporary politics and governance, and African borders & borderland research. Samuel has published in reputable peer-reviewed journals including Ghana Social Science Journal, West African Journal of Applied Ecology, Research Journal in Advanced Humanities, Journal of Borderland Studies, African Journal of Social Sciences Education, African Social Science and Humanities Journal, African Journal of History, Culture and Arts etc., with seven book chapters in edited volumes. Samuel is a Member of the African Borderlands Research Network (ABORNE), Fellow of the Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform (SSHAP), Member of the National Association of Local Authorities Ghana (NALAG) and an Assembly Member of Hofedo Electoral Area, Ho Municipal Assembly. Samuel is the Coordinator of the UHAS Cultural Troupe which specializes in performing different indigenous Ghanaian music and dance.
Richard Awubomu is a Health Anthropologist and Lecturer at the Department of General and Liberal Studies, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho (Ghana). He holds a Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Philosophy degrees in African Studies from the University of Ghana, Legon; and a Bachelor of Arts degree in African Studies (University of Cape Coast, Ghana). His research focuses on female cults and education, indigenous shrines and healing, traditional healing systems, societies, cultures & health, and religion and health. He has published in reputable peer-reviewed journals such as the West African Journal of Applied Ecology, Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Education, Ife Journal of History, Ibadan Journal of History and has five book chapters in edited volumes.
Akakpo, Samuel Bewiadzi, and Richard Awubomu. “Women in Traditional Healthcare in Contemporary Ghana: Evidence from the Volta and Oti Regions.” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 6, no. 11 (2025): 2873 – 2887, https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.202561112.
© 2025 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
