Year: 2012
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The idea for this project came out of a desire to improve the quality of health education programs conducted by foreign non-profit organizations, particularly one organization I have worked for: Health Outreach for Latin America (HOLA). After participating in public health education programs in Nicaragua in the spring of 2011, I realized that some of the information covered was not relevant to the community we worked in. During sexual health talks, we spent the majority of our time repeating information students had already received from teachers and local health workers. Although students did not ask questions, teachers asked them afterwards to write down topics they would like to hear more about and their comments illustrated ways we could have tailored the presentations to make them beneficial. Their concerns included HPV (human papillomavirus), a common STI in the area, urinary tract infection, domestic infidelity and abuse, among other issues. Providing community-specific information on these topics would have been possible if we had been more informed about education and issues specific to the area. The mistakes in our educational curriculum arose because we did not understand the complexities behind the issues we were addressing. When discussing dehydration with older community members, we suggested that individuals monitor the color of their urine by checking the toilet after using the restroom. However, it occurred to me after the presentation that our non-profit group was residing in one of the only buildings in the community with toilets; most community members either use outhouses without running water or use the outdoors and thus would not be able to see the color. Upon reflection, I have wondered what other opportunities for education we missed due to our lack of cultural context. In some cases our observations proved beneficial. One contributing cause of dehydration in the community was that individuals did not carry water with them, but only drank fluids at meals. We made this discovery by talking with a group of children who were fascinated by our colored Nalgene bottles. Accordingly, we adapted the health education program for the following spring (March 2012) to include a discussion about carrying water combined with distribution of donated water bottles.
Author: Carolyn C. Foster
Institution: University of Colorado Boulder
Language: English
Subfield: Health
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2302470371