Rapid ethnographic assessment: applications in a diarrhea management program.

This paper reports on a rapid ethnographic assessment methodology (REA) that was developed as an essential component of the dietary management of diarrhea (DMD) program. The DMD program is an interdisciplinary research project that has been developed to design intervention programs to reduce or eliminate the nutritional complications of diarrhea in Peru and Nigeria. Anthropological data gathering was an important component of the intervention design, but time and budgetary constraints required a rapid methodological approach. This paper outlines the REA methodology, describes the advantages and disadvantages of the approach, and discusses future applications for international primary health care interventions.

[1]  J. Coreil,et al.  Adoption of oral rehydration therapy among Haitian mothers. , 1988, Social science & medicine.

[2]  R. Black,et al.  Effects of diarrhea associated with specific enteropathogens on the growth of children in rural Bangladesh. , 1984, Pediatrics.

[3]  K. Brown,et al.  Nutritional management of acute diarrhea: an appraisal of the alternatives. , 1984, Pediatrics.

[4]  G. Foster.  Anthropological research perspectives on health problems in developing countries. , 1984, Social science & medicine.

[5]  M. Bentley.  The household management of childhood diarrhea in rural north India. , 1988, Social science & medicine.

[6]  S. Scrimshaw,et al.  Anthropological involvement in the Central American diarrheal disease control project. , 1988, Social science & medicine.

[7]  R. Martorell,et al.  Ethnomedicine and oral rehydration therapy: a case study of ethnomedical investigation and program planning. , 1984, Social science & medicine.

[8]  R. Black,et al.  The nutritional cost of infections. , 1981, Progress in clinical and biological research.

[9]  R. Yolken,et al.  Role of soy-based, lactose-free formula during treatment of acute diarrhea. , 1985, Pediatrics.

[10]  S. Welle,et al.  Normal thermic effect of glucose in obese women. , 1983, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[11]  K. Ramachandran,et al.  Major factors in diarrhoea related mortality among rural children. , 1986, The Indian journal of medical research.

[12]  B. Lozoff,et al.  Infection and Disease in South Indian Families: Beliefs About Childhood Diarrhea , 1975 .

[13]  Margaret E. Bentley,et al.  Consumption of weaning foods from fermented cereals in Kwara State Nigeria. , 1988 .

[14]  T. Cole,et al.  A quantitative study into the role of infection in determining nutritional status in Gambian village children , 1977, British Journal of Nutrition.