School of Geography, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
School of Geography, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
Soc Sci Med. 2024 Oct;359:117279. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117279. Epub 2024 Aug 28.
It is widely recognised that children recovering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM), remain vulnerable to risk of death following hospital discharge due to a wide range of biological and social factors. In light of this heightened risk, we report here on a qualitative study which aimed to better understand the caring contexts that children recovering from SAM were recuperating in within the high density urban and suburban districts of Harare, Zimbabwe. Undertaken with the mothers and other primary caregivers of 10 children enrolled on a large observational cohort study (HOPE-SAM), this paper identifies several dimensions of the women's lives that impede their caring capabilities. Given the country's status as a global 'hunger hotspot' (FAO/WFP, 2022), it should not be surprising that food insecurity featured prominently amongst these. Beyond this, the paper highlights the women's uneven access to informal social protection, experiences that are reflective of what recent scholarship refers to as examples of 'uncaring' or 'noncaring,' as well as their responses to discourses of shame and stigma within the community and hospital settings. The paper concludes by considering what this means for understanding of, and responses to, the bodies encountered in the place of global health research and interventions.
人们普遍认识到，患有严重急性营养不良（SAM）的儿童在出院后由于一系列广泛的生物和社会因素，仍然面临死亡风险。鉴于这种高风险，我们在此报告一项定性研究，该研究旨在更好地了解在津巴布韦哈拉雷高密度城市和郊区地区，从 SAM 中康复的儿童所处的照顾环境。该研究是与参加大型观察队列研究（HOPE-SAM）的 10 名儿童的母亲和其他主要照顾者一起进行的，本文确定了阻碍妇女照顾能力的几个方面。鉴于该国作为全球“饥饿热点”的地位（粮农组织/粮食计划署，2022 年），这些方面突出了粮食不安全问题也就不足为奇了。除此之外，本文还强调了妇女获得非正式社会保护的机会不均等，这些经历反映了最近的学术研究中提到的“不关心”或“不关心”的例子，以及她们对社区和医院环境中耻辱和污名化话语的反应。本文最后考虑了这对理解和应对全球卫生研究和干预中遇到的身体意味着什么。
