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Improving the Management of Children with Fevers by Healers in Native Rural Areas in the South of Ecuador

Background: Indigenous populations are represented among the poor and disadvantaged in rural areas. High rates of infectious diseases are observed in indigenous child populations, and fever as a general symptom is common. Objective: We aim to improve the skills of healers in rural indigenous areas i...

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Autores principales: Bautista-Valarezo, Estefanía, Espinosa, Maria Elena, Arce Guerrero, Narciza Eugenia, Verhoeven, Veronique, Hendrickx, Kristin, Michels, Nele R. M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10001595/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36900933
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20053923
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author Bautista-Valarezo, Estefanía
Espinosa, Maria Elena
Arce Guerrero, Narciza Eugenia
Verhoeven, Veronique
Hendrickx, Kristin
Michels, Nele R. M.
author_facet Bautista-Valarezo, Estefanía
Espinosa, Maria Elena
Arce Guerrero, Narciza Eugenia
Verhoeven, Veronique
Hendrickx, Kristin
Michels, Nele R. M.
author_sort Bautista-Valarezo, Estefanía
collection PubMed
description Background: Indigenous populations are represented among the poor and disadvantaged in rural areas. High rates of infectious diseases are observed in indigenous child populations, and fever as a general symptom is common. Objective: We aim to improve the skills of healers in rural indigenous areas in the South of Ecuador for managing children with fevers. Method: We performed participatory action research (PAR) for this study with 65 healers. Results: The PAR focused on the following four phases: (1) ‘observation,’ eight focus groups were used. (2) ‘planning’ phase was developed, and with culturally reflective peer group sessions, a culturally adapted flowchart was constructed titled “Management of children with fever.” In phase (3): ‘action’, the healers were trained to manage children with fever. Phase (4): ‘evaluation’, 50% of the healers used the flowchart. Conclusions: Explicit recognition of the need for traditional healers and health professionals in indigenous communities to work together to improve health indicators such as infant mortality exists. Additionally, strengthening the transfer system in rural areas is based on knowledge and cooperation between the community and the biomedical system.
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spelling pubmed-100015952023-03-11 Improving the Management of Children with Fevers by Healers in Native Rural Areas in the South of Ecuador Bautista-Valarezo, Estefanía Espinosa, Maria Elena Arce Guerrero, Narciza Eugenia Verhoeven, Veronique Hendrickx, Kristin Michels, Nele R. M. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Background: Indigenous populations are represented among the poor and disadvantaged in rural areas. High rates of infectious diseases are observed in indigenous child populations, and fever as a general symptom is common. Objective: We aim to improve the skills of healers in rural indigenous areas in the South of Ecuador for managing children with fevers. Method: We performed participatory action research (PAR) for this study with 65 healers. Results: The PAR focused on the following four phases: (1) ‘observation,’ eight focus groups were used. (2) ‘planning’ phase was developed, and with culturally reflective peer group sessions, a culturally adapted flowchart was constructed titled “Management of children with fever.” In phase (3): ‘action’, the healers were trained to manage children with fever. Phase (4): ‘evaluation’, 50% of the healers used the flowchart. Conclusions: Explicit recognition of the need for traditional healers and health professionals in indigenous communities to work together to improve health indicators such as infant mortality exists. Additionally, strengthening the transfer system in rural areas is based on knowledge and cooperation between the community and the biomedical system. MDPI 2023-02-22 /pmc/articles/PMC10001595/ /pubmed/36900933 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20053923 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Bautista-Valarezo, Estefanía
Espinosa, Maria Elena
Arce Guerrero, Narciza Eugenia
Verhoeven, Veronique
Hendrickx, Kristin
Michels, Nele R. M.
Improving the Management of Children with Fevers by Healers in Native Rural Areas in the South of Ecuador
title Improving the Management of Children with Fevers by Healers in Native Rural Areas in the South of Ecuador
title_full Improving the Management of Children with Fevers by Healers in Native Rural Areas in the South of Ecuador
title_fullStr Improving the Management of Children with Fevers by Healers in Native Rural Areas in the South of Ecuador
title_full_unstemmed Improving the Management of Children with Fevers by Healers in Native Rural Areas in the South of Ecuador
title_short Improving the Management of Children with Fevers by Healers in Native Rural Areas in the South of Ecuador
title_sort improving the management of children with fevers by healers in native rural areas in the south of ecuador
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10001595/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36900933
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20053923
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