From guidelines to local realities: evaluation of oral rehydration therapy and zinc supplementation in Guatemala
ABSTRACT Objective Diarrhea remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality for children in low- and middle-income countries throughout the Americas. The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed guidelines on incorporating zinc supplementation (ZS) with traditional oral rehydration therapy (...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:7b440db8a49b46e4960bd39a4f597752 2023-05-15T15:14:17+02:00 From guidelines to local realities: evaluation of oral rehydration therapy and zinc supplementation in Guatemala Rachel Hall-Clifford Roxanne Amerson 2017-04-01T00:00:00Z https://doaj.org/article/7b440db8a49b46e4960bd39a4f597752 EN ES PT eng spa por Pan American Health Organization http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1020-49892017000100205&lng=en&tlng=en https://doaj.org/toc/1680-5348 1680-5348 https://doaj.org/article/7b440db8a49b46e4960bd39a4f597752 Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, Vol 41, Iss 0 (2017) Diarrea fluidoterapia zinc agentes comunitarios de salud Guatemala Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2017 ftdoajarticles 2022-12-31T01:02:56Z ABSTRACT Objective Diarrhea remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality for children in low- and middle-income countries throughout the Americas. The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed guidelines on incorporating zinc supplementation (ZS) with traditional oral rehydration therapy (ORT) in order to shorten the duration of diarrheal episodes and to reduce poor health outcomes. Guatemala adopted these guidelines in 2011, but they have not yet been fully implemented at the community level. The objectives of this study were: (1) to co-design an ORT/ZS training program for community members with local health promoters that is appropriate to the local context and (2) to understand how attitudes and behaviors of community members changed after receiving training from the study promoters. Methods In an observational study, community health promoters in rural Guatemala were trained according to WHO guidelines, and they worked collaboratively with the study team to develop a training curriculum to implement in their community. Community-based surveys, interviews, and focus group discussions were used to assess acceptability, accessibility, and availability of oral rehydration therapy and zinc supplementation. Results Use of ORT increased from 63% to 95% among community members following training by local health promoters. Satisfaction with the service offered by health promoters increased from 63% to 90% amongst community members trained by the study promoters. However, knowledge and use of zinc supplementation remained low, which was attributable to unavailability of zinc in the study community. Conclusions Use of trained community health promoters is an effective way to translate WHO guidelines to local contexts and overcome sociocultural barriers to care. However, the health system’s structure must support availability of essential medicines in order to effectively implement those guidelines. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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English Spanish Portuguese |
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Diarrea fluidoterapia zinc agentes comunitarios de salud Guatemala Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
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Diarrea fluidoterapia zinc agentes comunitarios de salud Guatemala Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Rachel Hall-Clifford Roxanne Amerson From guidelines to local realities: evaluation of oral rehydration therapy and zinc supplementation in Guatemala |
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Diarrea fluidoterapia zinc agentes comunitarios de salud Guatemala Medicine R Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
ABSTRACT Objective Diarrhea remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality for children in low- and middle-income countries throughout the Americas. The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed guidelines on incorporating zinc supplementation (ZS) with traditional oral rehydration therapy (ORT) in order to shorten the duration of diarrheal episodes and to reduce poor health outcomes. Guatemala adopted these guidelines in 2011, but they have not yet been fully implemented at the community level. The objectives of this study were: (1) to co-design an ORT/ZS training program for community members with local health promoters that is appropriate to the local context and (2) to understand how attitudes and behaviors of community members changed after receiving training from the study promoters. Methods In an observational study, community health promoters in rural Guatemala were trained according to WHO guidelines, and they worked collaboratively with the study team to develop a training curriculum to implement in their community. Community-based surveys, interviews, and focus group discussions were used to assess acceptability, accessibility, and availability of oral rehydration therapy and zinc supplementation. Results Use of ORT increased from 63% to 95% among community members following training by local health promoters. Satisfaction with the service offered by health promoters increased from 63% to 90% amongst community members trained by the study promoters. However, knowledge and use of zinc supplementation remained low, which was attributable to unavailability of zinc in the study community. Conclusions Use of trained community health promoters is an effective way to translate WHO guidelines to local contexts and overcome sociocultural barriers to care. However, the health system’s structure must support availability of essential medicines in order to effectively implement those guidelines. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rachel Hall-Clifford Roxanne Amerson |
author_facet |
Rachel Hall-Clifford Roxanne Amerson |
author_sort |
Rachel Hall-Clifford |
title |
From guidelines to local realities: evaluation of oral rehydration therapy and zinc supplementation in Guatemala |
title_short |
From guidelines to local realities: evaluation of oral rehydration therapy and zinc supplementation in Guatemala |
title_full |
From guidelines to local realities: evaluation of oral rehydration therapy and zinc supplementation in Guatemala |
title_fullStr |
From guidelines to local realities: evaluation of oral rehydration therapy and zinc supplementation in Guatemala |
title_full_unstemmed |
From guidelines to local realities: evaluation of oral rehydration therapy and zinc supplementation in Guatemala |
title_sort |
from guidelines to local realities: evaluation of oral rehydration therapy and zinc supplementation in guatemala |
publisher |
Pan American Health Organization |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doaj.org/article/7b440db8a49b46e4960bd39a4f597752 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, Vol 41, Iss 0 (2017) |
op_relation |
http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1020-49892017000100205&lng=en&tlng=en https://doaj.org/toc/1680-5348 1680-5348 https://doaj.org/article/7b440db8a49b46e4960bd39a4f597752 |
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