Browsing by Subject "developing countries"
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Item Childhood Obesity Perceptions in the Peruvian AmazonPerez, Emily Nicole; Eoff, Shirley M; Wilkinson, Susan; Walker, MollyWhile childhood obesity is not typically a concern in developing countries, there has been a dramatic increase in the incidence of overweight and obese children within these limited resource countries. Various contributors play into why populations see this increase, most notably the improving economy. As countries, such as Peru, develop economically, they begin to see a double-standard phenomenon, where infant mortality rates and undernutrition are falling, yet the number of children becoming overweight and obese is rising. Perceptions of health dictate what needs to change and ultimately what policies are implemented. This qualitative study utilizes a field experience to explore how childhood obesity is perceived in an urban, semi urban, and rural setting in Amazonian Peru, and why or why not people in these areas believe childhood obesity to be an issue. Diet was also looked at as a potential issue, though most people did not see a connection between diet and weight gain. Most respondents did not believe childhood obesity to be an issue, though obesity in adults was viewed as increasingly prevalent in some interviews. Peruvians in this area of the Amazon Basin do not consider childhood obesity to be a concern, and many believe it is an issue for larger cities and more developed areas. Due to this perception, no governmental changes are likely to be implemented to combat the growing issue within this area.Item Discovering the Current Wound Management Practices of Rural Africans: a Pilot Study(2013-06-03) Benskin, Linda 1959-; Bishop, Sheryl L; Hill, Alice; Melby, Peter C; Bolton, Laura LUnrelenting heat, poor sanitation, lack of knowledge, and poverty contribute to a disabling wound prevalence that often exceeds 20% in rural areas of tropical developing countries. Wounds in this environment are usually poorly managed at very high cost. Traditional health practitioners and village health workers, rather than health professionals, provide health care in most villages. Wound management education for these nonprofessional health providers should include only sustainable practices which prove to be safe and effective in tropical villages. However, usual practice data, needed for comparison studies, is absent from the published literature. This pilot study introduced an innovative data collection method to overcome cultural obstacles which have prevented researchers from obtaining meaningful quantitative data in this challenging setting. Between August and October of 2012, seventy-five participants from 25 diverse villages in Ghana provided detailed descriptions of their current usual topical wound management methods by completing the stories of patients representing each of seven wound types commonly found in this setting. Responses were tabulated and categorized as congruent or not congruent with modern topical wound management principles within three domains and six subcategories (two for each domain). Four research questions organized the data analysis. The wound management practices of nonprofessional health care providers were identified and described in detail for the first time. These results are foundational to the process of developing culturally and environmentally appropriate wound management protocols for indigenous wound care providers in rural areas of tropical developing countries. In addition, several significant differences in the wound management of the three nonprofessional provider groups were found. The unique data collection method introduced in this study can easily be adapted to rural areas of other tropical developing countries. When sufficient data have been accumulated, the information can be utilized to design comparison studies so that the ecological validity of the wound management protocols in planned educational programs can be ensured.Item Tuberculosis: standards and resources for quality improvement in resource limited settings(2010-01-01) Katherine Louise McQuade; Christine Arcari, PhD MPH; Susan Weller, PhD; Philip Keiser, MDTuberculosis is a significant problem, infecting nearly 9 million new patients per year and killing about 2 million a year. The fight to eradicate TB is located primarily in countries that are resource poor and disproportionately affected by HIV and the development of drug resistant TB. The primary means with which to affect TB globally are to decrease transmission locally, mainly by effective identification, diagnosis, and treatment of TB patients. Providing quality care to TB patients is therefore essential to the global effort to eradicate TB. This review describes the problem of TB, identifies the essential services of TB control programs and standards of care, and reviews the available resources for quality improvement in resource limited settings. Finally, recommendations for a quality improvement plan for a TB control program in resource limited settings are made.