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

Estefanía Bautista-Valarezo (), Maria Elena Espinosa, Narciza Eugenia Arce Guerrero, Veronique Verhoeven, Kristin Hendrickx and Nele R. M. Michels
Additional contact information
Estefanía Bautista-Valarezo: Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, Loja 1101608, Ecuador
Maria Elena Espinosa: Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, Loja 1101608, Ecuador
Narciza Eugenia Arce Guerrero: Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca 010203, Ecuador
Veronique Verhoeven: Department of Family Medicine and Population Health, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
Kristin Hendrickx: Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias Médicas, Universidad de la Frontera, Temuco 4811230, Chile
Nele R. M. Michels: Department of Family Medicine and Population Health, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 5, 1-14

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: children; fever; alarm signs; socioeconomic factors; traditional medicine (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/5/3923/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/5/3923/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:5:p:3923-:d:1077143

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().