McLennan J D
Canadian Centre for Studies of Children at Risk, Department of Psychiatry, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
J Health Popul Nutr. 2000 Jun;18(1):15-22.
The study, conducted in a poor periurban community of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, assessed the practices, knowledge, and barriers relating to prevention of diarrhoea. A total of 582 caregivers of children, aged less than 5 years, were systematically sampled from four barrios. Results of the study showed that 55% of the caregivers did not boil drinking water for children; 38% did not always wash hands of the children prior to meals; 87% of the children did not always wear shoes outside their house; and 54% were breastfed for less than one year. Biomedical knowledge about these practices was high among the caregivers, and was not related to the reported behaviours. However, several barriers were significantly related to practices, including lapse in caregiving, limited resources, erroneous beliefs, and non-compliance by children. Health education, based on a biomedical knowledge-deficit model, may have little impact on improving the diarrhoea-prevention practices in these communities. Greater attention should, therefore, be directed toward the barriers experienced by caregivers of children.
该研究在多米尼加共和国圣多明各一个贫穷的城郊社区开展，评估了与腹泻预防相关的做法、知识和障碍。从四个街区系统抽取了总共582名5岁以下儿童的看护人。研究结果显示，55%的看护人不给孩子的饮用水煮沸；38%的人不总是在饭前给孩子洗手；87%的孩子不总是在户外穿鞋；54%的孩子母乳喂养不足一年。看护人对这些做法的生物医学知识掌握程度较高，且与报告的行为无关。然而，若干障碍与做法显著相关，包括照料失误、资源有限、错误观念以及孩子不配合。基于生物医学知识缺陷模型的健康教育，可能对改善这些社区的腹泻预防做法影响甚微。因此，应更加关注儿童看护人所面临的障碍。
