Community beliefs and practices about dengue in Puerto Rico Creencias y prácticas comunitarias relacionadas con el dengue en Puerto Rico
OBJECTIVE: In spite of long-term endemicity and repeated government and private efforts, effective, sustained community participation for dengue prevention remains a challenge in Puerto Rico. This study explored differences found in interviews conducted in 2001 in attitudes toward dengue and its pre...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:3da45a044add4c8c865e3ff7eaacbd03 2023-05-15T15:14:36+02:00 Community beliefs and practices about dengue in Puerto Rico Creencias y prácticas comunitarias relacionadas con el dengue en Puerto Rico Carmen L. Pérez-Guerra Emily Zielinski-Gutierrez Danulka Vargas-Torres Gary G. Clark 2009-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doaj.org/article/3da45a044add4c8c865e3ff7eaacbd03 EN ES PT eng spa por Pan American Health Organization http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1020-49892009000300005 https://doaj.org/toc/1020-4989 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-5348 1020-4989 1680-5348 https://doaj.org/article/3da45a044add4c8c865e3ff7eaacbd03 Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, Vol 25, Iss 3, Pp 218-226 (2009) Dengue educación en salud control vectorial Puerto Rico health education vector control Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2009 ftdoajarticles 2022-12-31T13:02:53Z OBJECTIVE: In spite of long-term endemicity and repeated government and private efforts, effective, sustained community participation for dengue prevention remains a challenge in Puerto Rico. This study explored differences found in interviews conducted in 2001 in attitudes toward dengue and its prevention by respondents' gender and whether they had a prior dengue infection. Findings may be used to develop messages to promote Aedes aegypti control practices. METHODS: From September to October 2003, 11 focus groups were conducted in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Fifty-nine persons (35 women, 24 men), > 18 years of age, who had been identified through the Puerto Rico dengue surveillance system participated in the focus groups. Analysis was based on grounded theory. RESULTS: Women considered dengue important because of its economic, emotional, and health impact, and they were concerned more often than men about insufficient garbage removal and water disposal. Participants with a previous dengue diagnosis were more concerned about risk of the disease, were more knowledgeable about dengue and its prevention, and recommended use of repellents more often than their counterparts without a previous dengue diagnosis. Barriers to sustained dengue prevention included misconceptions from outdated educational materials, " invisibility" of dengue compared with chronic diseases, and lack of acceptance of responsibility for dengue prevention. CONCLUSION: Suggested strategies to motivate residents' actions included working with government agencies to address structural problems that increase mosquito populations, improving access to information on garbage collection and water disposal through telephone hotlines, increasing publicity and information about dengue by mass media campaigns, and educating health professionals. OBJETIVO: A pesar de la prolongada endemia y los reiterados esfuerzos gubernamentales y privados, la participación efectiva y sostenida de la comunidad en las tareas de prevención del dengue sigue siendo un reto en ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic San Juan |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
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English Spanish Portuguese |
topic |
Dengue educación en salud control vectorial Puerto Rico health education vector control Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
spellingShingle |
Dengue educación en salud control vectorial Puerto Rico health education vector control Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Carmen L. Pérez-Guerra Emily Zielinski-Gutierrez Danulka Vargas-Torres Gary G. Clark Community beliefs and practices about dengue in Puerto Rico Creencias y prácticas comunitarias relacionadas con el dengue en Puerto Rico |
topic_facet |
Dengue educación en salud control vectorial Puerto Rico health education vector control Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
OBJECTIVE: In spite of long-term endemicity and repeated government and private efforts, effective, sustained community participation for dengue prevention remains a challenge in Puerto Rico. This study explored differences found in interviews conducted in 2001 in attitudes toward dengue and its prevention by respondents' gender and whether they had a prior dengue infection. Findings may be used to develop messages to promote Aedes aegypti control practices. METHODS: From September to October 2003, 11 focus groups were conducted in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Fifty-nine persons (35 women, 24 men), > 18 years of age, who had been identified through the Puerto Rico dengue surveillance system participated in the focus groups. Analysis was based on grounded theory. RESULTS: Women considered dengue important because of its economic, emotional, and health impact, and they were concerned more often than men about insufficient garbage removal and water disposal. Participants with a previous dengue diagnosis were more concerned about risk of the disease, were more knowledgeable about dengue and its prevention, and recommended use of repellents more often than their counterparts without a previous dengue diagnosis. Barriers to sustained dengue prevention included misconceptions from outdated educational materials, " invisibility" of dengue compared with chronic diseases, and lack of acceptance of responsibility for dengue prevention. CONCLUSION: Suggested strategies to motivate residents' actions included working with government agencies to address structural problems that increase mosquito populations, improving access to information on garbage collection and water disposal through telephone hotlines, increasing publicity and information about dengue by mass media campaigns, and educating health professionals. OBJETIVO: A pesar de la prolongada endemia y los reiterados esfuerzos gubernamentales y privados, la participación efectiva y sostenida de la comunidad en las tareas de prevención del dengue sigue siendo un reto en ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Carmen L. Pérez-Guerra Emily Zielinski-Gutierrez Danulka Vargas-Torres Gary G. Clark |
author_facet |
Carmen L. Pérez-Guerra Emily Zielinski-Gutierrez Danulka Vargas-Torres Gary G. Clark |
author_sort |
Carmen L. Pérez-Guerra |
title |
Community beliefs and practices about dengue in Puerto Rico Creencias y prácticas comunitarias relacionadas con el dengue en Puerto Rico |
title_short |
Community beliefs and practices about dengue in Puerto Rico Creencias y prácticas comunitarias relacionadas con el dengue en Puerto Rico |
title_full |
Community beliefs and practices about dengue in Puerto Rico Creencias y prácticas comunitarias relacionadas con el dengue en Puerto Rico |
title_fullStr |
Community beliefs and practices about dengue in Puerto Rico Creencias y prácticas comunitarias relacionadas con el dengue en Puerto Rico |
title_full_unstemmed |
Community beliefs and practices about dengue in Puerto Rico Creencias y prácticas comunitarias relacionadas con el dengue en Puerto Rico |
title_sort |
community beliefs and practices about dengue in puerto rico creencias y prácticas comunitarias relacionadas con el dengue en puerto rico |
publisher |
Pan American Health Organization |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
https://doaj.org/article/3da45a044add4c8c865e3ff7eaacbd03 |
geographic |
Arctic San Juan |
geographic_facet |
Arctic San Juan |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, Vol 25, Iss 3, Pp 218-226 (2009) |
op_relation |
http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1020-49892009000300005 https://doaj.org/toc/1020-4989 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-5348 1020-4989 1680-5348 https://doaj.org/article/3da45a044add4c8c865e3ff7eaacbd03 |
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1766345043635863552 |