Assessing the efficiency of HIV prevention interventions in Kenya – the ORPHEA Project
| Autor: | Richard G. Wamai, Joseph K Wang'ombe, A. Kwan, Omar Galárraga, Mercy G. Mugo, I. Ochoa Moreno, S. Bautista, A. Sassi, Raluca Buzdugan, Claire Chaumont, Hellen Nyakundi, Sandra G. Sosa-Rubí, G. Bollinger |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2015 |
| Předmět: |
Medical education
education.field_of_study medicine.medical_specialty biology business.industry Public health Population Psychological intervention virus diseases General Medicine Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 biology.organism_classification medicine.disease Tanzania Quality of life (healthcare) parasitic diseases medicine Albinism Social determinants of health Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 education business Educational program |
| Zdroj: | Annals of Global Health, Vol 81, Iss 1 (2015) |
| ISSN: | 2214-9996 |
| Popis: | ideas that PWAs have supernatural powers that can be obtained by ingesting their body parts, and that having sexual intercourse with females with albinism can cure HIV/AIDS. Improving awareness of albinism is an integral step towards improving quality of life of PWAs in Tanzania. We developed a program to evaluate the use of community health workers (CHWs) to spread awareness of albinism and the challenges faced by this marginalized population in Tanzania. Structure/Method/Design: We developed an educational program consisting of a video, PowerPoint presentation, and discussion topics and taught it to 33 CHWs trained by Empower Tanzania, an NGO with an infrastructure designed to disseminate public health practices in rural Tanzania. These CHWs delivered the presentation at schools and community gatherings in a rural district of Tanzania throughout February 2014. We administered questionnaires to program attendees before and after the presentation. We also gave questionnaires throughout the community before and after the month-long intervention. These questionnaires were used to assess baseline views about albinism, to evaluate the program’s success, and to obtain additional feedback. Outcomes & Evaluation: A total of 12,007 participants attended presentations. Questionnaires randomly administered to 426 participants demonstrated significantly higher knowledge about albinism after the presentations than before, and indicated that participants intended to share what they had learned with friends and family members. Community questionnaires administered to 896 randomlyselected community members in January and 743 additional community members in March suggested retained, community-wide gains in knowledge about albinism and the unique challenges faced by PWAs. Data analysis revealed the knowledge gains varied based on selected demographic characteristics. We conclude the program to be an effective means to improve awareness of and knowledge about albinism. We hope these knowledge gains can reduce the associated discrimination and stigma towards PWAs in Tanzania. Going Forward: The UN has identified improving knowledge at a community level as a priority in addressing violence towards Tanzanians with albinism. Public health interventions utilizing CHWs are an effective tool to improve health outcomes in rural populations. Our program demonstrates a promising approach to alleviate the challenges faced by a marginalized population and supports the utility of CHW programs to enact cultural change. This program will continue to be used by Empower Tanzania to maintain the observed gains in knowledge. Potential applications of our findings include dissemination of this program to other areas of Tanzania and utilization of this CHWbased approach to develop interventions addressing other social determinants of health in developing countries. Funding: Peterson Family Foundation Abstract #: 01ETC098 |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|