Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Letters Of The Bush: A Case Study Of Traditional Setswana Herbal Medicine, Kristen Danley

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Traditional medicinal techniques in southern Africa are under-studied, but they continue to play an important role in many people’s lives. In addition to its anthropological value, traditional medicine also has the potential to lead to new treatments for diseases. This study proposed to document the plants and methods used by a traditional healer in the village of Goo-Tau, Tswapong Hills region, Central District, Botswana.

The study was conducted over a period of three weeks through a series of interviews. Samples were collected of selected plant species. Plants were identified both during and after the study through field guides and consultation …

To Smear Or Not To Smear? Evidence Of A Failure Of Implementation And Content Suitability Of The 2000 National Guideline On Cervical Cancer Screening Program In Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, Lee Trope

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The value of screening for cervical cancer has been proven; as such screening has resulted in a decrease in incidence and mortality of cervical cancer by over 80% in developed countries . Yet despite a screening infrastructure, cervical cancer is the most common female malignancy in South Africa , affecting 1 in ever 41 women. It is estimated that more than 3,400 South African women die of cervical cancer every year . In the year 2000, the South African Department of Health initiated its National Guideline on Cervical Cancer Screening Program. The program, based on World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines …

What Is Available Vs. What Is Accessible: An Evaluation Of Resources For Kwazulu Natal Diabetics Based On The Data Of Kwazulu Natal Experts And Cato Manor Diabetics, Mollie Gurian

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The objective of this study was to learn about the resources available to a diabetic and the actual ability of diabetics to access these resources. I found that two ideal paradigms of care were consistently mentioned by experts in KwaZulu Natal and at the World Diabetes Congress (WDC), the international conference on diabetes that I attended in Cape Town. The first is self-management of the disease and a patient centered approach to care. The second is a collaborative team approach to treating diabetics which involves a number of experts besides a physician. These two concepts are connected in that a …

The Development Of Weaning Practices Among Women Of The Mombasa District, Its Effects On Children’S Public Health Issues, And The Proposition Of Intervention Plans, Rachael Bryan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Breastfeeding is an unparalleled way of providing nourishment for the infant child in the first few years of life. A large body of literature supports that exclusive breastfeeding is optimal for the first 6 months of life, while complementary foods should be introduced in the diet 6 months and beyond. Mothers who inadequately wean their children are defined as having introduced complementary foods prior to 6 months post-natal age. The inclusive purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of inadequate weaning practices among patients and mothers of patients of the Muslim Education and Welfare Association Medical Centre (MMC) …

Traditional Practices And Governmental Responsibilities: An Investigation Into The Evolving Partnership Between Indigenous Brazilian Midwives And State-Provided Maternal Healthcare Services, Caitlin Canfield

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Traditional midwives play important roles in the provision of maternal healthcare services in developing countries. Especially in rural, marginalized communities, traditional midwives help to provide obstetric care when local governmental health services fail to do so. The healthcare provision that traditional midwives “should” undertake is a subject debated by public health and development policy makers who seek to reduce maternal mortality rates and improve maternal health in rural communities in developing countries. This study examines the practices of traditional midwives in indigenous Tupinambá communities located in Southern Bahia, Brazil. It seeks to define the contemporary role of traditional midwives within …

La Medicina Mapuche: Cosmovisión E Identidad, Pérdida Y Recuperación, Claudia Grace Lesser

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Perceptions of health and illness vary depending on culture, tradition, history, ethnicity and identity. As cultures change and construct their stories, the practices and belief systems surrounding health also shift, develop and are expressed in different ways. With these patterns in mind, the purpose of this essay is to examine the traditional medicine of the Mapuche people of southern Argentina and focus on how aspects of this medicine have been lost, re-shaped, sustained and recuperated. The role that traditional medicine plays in the lives of Mapuches today in the context of modern medicine is explored specifically through practices surrounding maternity …

Individual Responsibility Concerning Hiv Transmission Among Msm: A Comparative Study Of The Effectiveness Of Ngo Intervention Policies And Their Practical Applications Within The United Kingdom, Australia, And The Netherlands, Martha Kienbaum

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study investigates the complexities involved in utilizing the terms of individual responsibility for the construction of HIV prevention campaigns that target men who have sex with men. Four health workers in the Netherlands were interviewed about their personal opinions regarding HIV intervention, and these interviews were analyzed qualitatively for their points of comparison and contrast. Then, campaign materials from organizations in the United Kingdom and Australia were analyzed for their use of the language of responsibility, their portrayal of MSM, their balance between promoting disclosure and communication, their focus on individual groups within the MSM community, and their overall …

La Ley De Maternidad Gratuita En Intag: Su Aplicación, Educación Y Uso, Stephanie Lewis

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The country of Ecuador has a high rate of infant and maternal mortality, as well as problems with malnutrition. The Minister of Public Health responded to these problems with a law to provide the public with different types of free medical attention. The Minister’s hope is to reduce these problems with the law. The law is called the Law of Free Motherhood and Attention for Infants (Ley de Maternidad Gratuita y Atención a la Infancia), and includes free attention and vitamins for pregnant women, free birth and post-birth care, and vitamins, attention and vaccinations for children under 5 years of …

Dai Medicine: Preservation Of And Changes In Ancient Healing Practices, Geoffroy Fauchet

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This independent study project discusses the general concept and theories of Dai medicine and focuses on the conservation of and transformation that both, the traditional and modern Dai medical system have undergone over time.

The Missing Piece: Understanding Nairobi’S Traditional Medical Practitioners, Mufaddal Dahodwala

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Currently, there is a problem of access to biomedical health services to large portions of Nairobi’s population. Traditional herbal medicine has long been practiced in Kenya, and though studies have shown that traditional medicine has been effective against certain acute and chronic illnesses, it has been marginalized in the health service sector. By integrating traditional medicine into mainstream healthcare, a larger proportion of the Kenyan population will be able achieve access to adequate health services. However, there has not been enough discussion about traditional medicine from a holistic point of view. Without adequate discussion, traditional medicine will remain in the …

Positive Living: Nutritional Realities And Interventions For People Living With Hiv/Aids In Northwest Province, Cameroon, Rachael Massell

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In this paper I will discuss the range of realities and interventions relating to nutrition for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in the Northwest Province of Cameroon. After discussing the background of the topic, including the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the facts about nutrition and HIV, I will move on to discuss the methodology and findings from my fieldwork in the provincial capital, Bamenda. In the section titled “Realities,” I will detail the poverty, local diet, and stigma that PLWHA face everyday, in the context of the province with the nation’s highest prevalence rate, and present PLWHA’s own justification of the …

“Sou Doméstica:” Construções De Identidade E Saúde Das Trabalhadoras Domésticas Salvador, Bahia Brasil, Jenny Fauci

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

O mundo do trabalho doméstico é um mundo invisível de discriminação, desvalorização e exploração. No Brasil, existem milhões de trabalhadoras domésticas, na sua maioria mulheres, negras e que vêm de histórias pobres. Essas trabalhadoras domésticas enfrentam uma agressão profunda contra a dignidade, direitos, saúde, e identidade delas.

Nesta pesquisa, perguntamos sobre a relação entre identidade e saúde. Como é que a identidade afeta a saúde? Qual é a natureza desta relação? A motivação para esta pergunta vem da invisibilidade das condições de saúde—como uma expressão do corpo e da mente-- desta população e também o reconhecimento que a identidade duma …

The Complex Realities Of Indigenous Health Care Delivery, Megan Waterman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The indigenous population of Australia faces a life expectancy that is eighteen years lower than the general population. This study addresses this incredible disparity by exploring the historical, cultural and social forces that impact on health status, focussing especially on health care service utilisation. Qualitative methods of interviewing and participant observation have been used to examine the two sectors of Aboriginal health service delivery in urban Victoria: Aboriginal community controlled health organisations (ACCHOs) and mainstream organisations. Accounting for the complex forces and realities in health service delivery, this is a discussion of the important components of the current realities for …

Working With The Tabu: Hiv/Aids Education Strategies In Fiji, Amanda Butts

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The focus of this paper is the cultural tabu, or taboo, in Fiji that prevents the open discussion of sex and therefore complicates education efforts towards HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. Specific factors perpetuate the tabu including using it as an excuse to simply ignore a complex issue such as HIV/AIDS and using it to keep sex off social agendas in a predominantly Christian nation. Where organizations have taken strides to work with or break the tabu, the author examines and analyzes various education strategies employed by a variety of sectors including schools, health care facilities, faith-based organizations, the HIV positive …

Embracing The Demons Within: Spiritual Possession And Mental Health Support In Madagascar, Thomas Cody Swift

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Possession, and the systems of mental health support existing under the same spiritual paradigm, inherently address and serve to instigate a change in the entirety of one’s life. The two traditional systems of mental health support in Madagascar, tromba spirit healers and Protestent exorcisms, appear to differ in doctine and tradition and have been proposed to be fundementally incompatible because of “conflicting or alternative epistemological realities” (Sharp, 525). The goals of this research, however, will be to identify the contextual and functional trends of the two systems that exist to support and ameliorate the mental health of the Malagasy people. …

Malaria Prevention And Treatment In The Province Of Toliara, Madagascar: A Socioeconomic And Cultural Perspective Of Supermoustiquaire Use And Healing, Lily Conover

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

To preface my intentions, I never find myself viewing this place passively; I cannot help but be constantly attuned to the small struggles, conflicts, and successes that take place on a minute by minute basis as I roll through a village in a taxi-brousse or fly over the countryside in an airplane. I chose to study malaria in south-eastern Madagascar not only because it may have chosen me first, but because it is one of those continual struggles that is taking place between a plasmodium and red blood cells, families, communities, cultures, ethnicities, economic sectors, governmental agencies, and non-governmental organizations …

The Human Ecology Of A Disease: Dissemination Of Resources And Information On Hiv And Aids In Can Tho City And An Giang Province, Lucas Thornblade

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

HIV has spread worldwide. This virus, resulting in as-of-yet incurable destruction of the human immune system, has caused the death of millions in the last two decades through opportunistic infections manifest as AIDS. Though development of prevention and treatment measures have greatly improved in recent years, because of lack of resources, incidence of infection continues to increase annually in nearly all parts of the world including southeast Asia. This paper looks at how the disease has affected people’s lives in Can Tho City and An Giang Province in Vietnam’s southern Mekong Delta. This paper offers an epidemiological and biological argument …

Current Issues In Healthcare In Samoa “Making-Do With What Is Available”, Veronica Braden

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The objective of this research was to look at the current issues in healthcare in present day Samoa. The research was conducted over a four week period, two of which were spent observing and interviewing in the public hospital, Tupua Tamasese Meaole, and in the private hospital, MedCen. This research was conducted to look at issues such as cleanliness of facilities, the shortage of supplies and technology in the hospitals, the demand for higher salaries made by the doctors, and the reasons for the trend towards the privatization of medicine. Also researched, was the role of the government in terms …

How To Bridge The Gap: An Analysis Of The Coverage And Efficacy Of Volunteer Counseling And Testing Centers In Suba District, Kenya, Joseph Lippi

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Suba District of western Kenya is one of the areas most affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. According to Kenyan Ministry of Health publications, at the end of 2005, Suba District had an HIV/AIDS prevalence of 30%. This paper focuses on the numerous volunteer counseling and testing centers (VCTs) in Suba District that test and educate members of the community in effort to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS. Great efforts have been made to attack the problem of HIV/AIDS in Suba district. This paper seeks to illuminate the numerous factors that keep people in the community from seeking VCT center …

Loaning Health: The Effectiveness Of Microfinance As An Hiv/Aids Intervention Method In Kibera Slums, Lara Berlin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Three of the major societal issues facing Kenya are poverty, gender inequalities, and HIV/AIDS, each of which acts as a catalyst for the others. In the last twenty years, microfinance has been used as an intervention method combating poverty and women’s disempowerment. As such, this study examines the effectiveness of using microfinance as an HIV/AIDS intervention method in the Kibera slums of Nairobi, Kenya. The research is primarily based upon interviews with Kibera residents and members of microfinance organizations. The findings indicate that most Kibera residents believe microfinance is the best method of reducing the spread of AIDS, especially when …

Sex-Education And Preventative And Contraceptive Services: Educação-Sexual E Serviços Contraceptivos E Preventativos, Elizabeth M. Ortiz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Maternal morbidity is one of the leading causes of death amongst women in Latina America. Lack of access to Reproductive Health services has incited a continental epidemic amongst adolescent women - and should be considered a public health crisis. Yet, there is little being done by the governing male bodies to secure access and the Right to Reproductive Health services. This is not only a means of re-enforcing gendered inequalities- but also class, and racial disparities. Reproductive Health in Brazil and Northeastern Brazil in particular, serves as an allegory for socio-economic, gender, ethnic, and racial inequality in the region. The …