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Behaviors and Patterns of Searching Care Among Fulani's Children Living in Rural Area, in a Context of Therapeutic Pluralism in the Ferlo, Senegal

Received: 12 June 2018    Accepted: 2 July 2018    Published: 23 July 2018
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Abstract

The diversity of therapeutic offers is a proven fact in the contemporary world. In a still traditional society that is the Ferlo, there is a therapeutic diversity that encompasses a wide range of people in a nomadic community. In a context of medical pluralism, this article was contributing to the comprehension of how the structuring of social structures and health systems and the inter-functionality of its components can influence therapeutic remedies. This was a case study. The case studied was the logic of care-seeking behaviour of deseased children in a context of therapeutic pluralism. A total of 30 peoples were interviewed. These included 20 mothers and caregivers aged 6 to 59 months, 8 traditional healers and 2 health providers from the Widou thiengholi health post. Semi-directive interview guides were used for the survey. Interviews with informants were conducted in the local language of the participants. The data obtained through each in-depth individual interview were analyzed separately through the thematic content analysis. Data analysis was performed using NVivo 11 software. In the Ferlo, in the gender relations in the management of the disease in the child, the grandmother had a predominant place in the therapeutic decision-making process. The representations of diseases allowed a binary typology of diseases into "doctors" and "healers" diseases. These representations determined the type of recourse. There were other reasons for the choice of the type of remedy. The quality of the caregiver-patient relationship was one of the main reasons that influenced the choice of the health care facility as a use of care. The poor quality of the reception and the bad behavior of the providers discourage the communities to go to the health post. Despite the fact that the communities recognize the effectiveness of the treatment provided there. This study showed that disease representations play an important role in defining care-seeking behavior. Thus the “singular representations” relating to the types of illness condition the type of recourse to care. Nevertheless, there were characteristics specific to a type of remedy which contributed to the underutilization of this type of remedy. In this study, it was the quality of the care-patient relationship that was judged to be of insufficient quality and that was a factor of the underutilization of modern health services.

Published in Social Sciences (Volume 7, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ss.20180704.11
Page(s) 152-160
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Searching Care, Representation of Illness, Caregiver-Patient Relationship

References
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[14] Massé R, Culture et Santé Publique. Les contributions de l'anthropologie à la prévention et à la promotion de la santé. Montréal-Paris: Gaëtan Morin, Éditeur, 1995, 499 pp.
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[16] Gruénais M E (1999), « Jaffré, Yannick & Olivier de Sardan, Jean-Pierre, eds. - La construction sociale des maladies. Les entités nosologiques populaires en Afrique de l'Ouest. Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 374 p. (« Les champs de la santé »). », Cahiers d’études africaines [En ligne], 161 | 2001, mis en ligne le 30 avril 2003, consulté le 24 décembre 2017.
[17] Cantrelle P, Locoh T. (1990) Facteurs culturels et sociaux de la sante en Afrique de l’ouest. LES Dossiers du CEPED N’ 10 PARIS.
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    Ndèye Marème Sougou, Gilles Boetsch, Anta Tal-Dia. (2018). Behaviors and Patterns of Searching Care Among Fulani's Children Living in Rural Area, in a Context of Therapeutic Pluralism in the Ferlo, Senegal. Social Sciences, 7(4), 152-160. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20180704.11

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    ACS Style

    Ndèye Marème Sougou; Gilles Boetsch; Anta Tal-Dia. Behaviors and Patterns of Searching Care Among Fulani's Children Living in Rural Area, in a Context of Therapeutic Pluralism in the Ferlo, Senegal. Soc. Sci. 2018, 7(4), 152-160. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20180704.11

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    AMA Style

    Ndèye Marème Sougou, Gilles Boetsch, Anta Tal-Dia. Behaviors and Patterns of Searching Care Among Fulani's Children Living in Rural Area, in a Context of Therapeutic Pluralism in the Ferlo, Senegal. Soc Sci. 2018;7(4):152-160. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20180704.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ss.20180704.11,
      author = {Ndèye Marème Sougou and Gilles Boetsch and Anta Tal-Dia},
      title = {Behaviors and Patterns of Searching Care Among Fulani's Children Living in Rural Area, in a Context of Therapeutic Pluralism in the Ferlo, Senegal},
      journal = {Social Sciences},
      volume = {7},
      number = {4},
      pages = {152-160},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ss.20180704.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20180704.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ss.20180704.11},
      abstract = {The diversity of therapeutic offers is a proven fact in the contemporary world. In a still traditional society that is the Ferlo, there is a therapeutic diversity that encompasses a wide range of people in a nomadic community. In a context of medical pluralism, this article was contributing to the comprehension of how the structuring of social structures and health systems and the inter-functionality of its components can influence therapeutic remedies. This was a case study. The case studied was the logic of care-seeking behaviour of deseased children in a context of therapeutic pluralism. A total of 30 peoples were interviewed. These included 20 mothers and caregivers aged 6 to 59 months, 8 traditional healers and 2 health providers from the Widou thiengholi health post. Semi-directive interview guides were used for the survey. Interviews with informants were conducted in the local language of the participants. The data obtained through each in-depth individual interview were analyzed separately through the thematic content analysis. Data analysis was performed using NVivo 11 software. In the Ferlo, in the gender relations in the management of the disease in the child, the grandmother had a predominant place in the therapeutic decision-making process. The representations of diseases allowed a binary typology of diseases into "doctors" and "healers" diseases. These representations determined the type of recourse. There were other reasons for the choice of the type of remedy. The quality of the caregiver-patient relationship was one of the main reasons that influenced the choice of the health care facility as a use of care. The poor quality of the reception and the bad behavior of the providers discourage the communities to go to the health post. Despite the fact that the communities recognize the effectiveness of the treatment provided there. This study showed that disease representations play an important role in defining care-seeking behavior. Thus the “singular representations” relating to the types of illness condition the type of recourse to care. Nevertheless, there were characteristics specific to a type of remedy which contributed to the underutilization of this type of remedy. In this study, it was the quality of the care-patient relationship that was judged to be of insufficient quality and that was a factor of the underutilization of modern health services.},
     year = {2018}
    }
    

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    T1  - Behaviors and Patterns of Searching Care Among Fulani's Children Living in Rural Area, in a Context of Therapeutic Pluralism in the Ferlo, Senegal
    AU  - Ndèye Marème Sougou
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.ss.20180704.11
    T2  - Social Sciences
    JF  - Social Sciences
    JO  - Social Sciences
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    EP  - 160
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2326-988X
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20180704.11
    AB  - The diversity of therapeutic offers is a proven fact in the contemporary world. In a still traditional society that is the Ferlo, there is a therapeutic diversity that encompasses a wide range of people in a nomadic community. In a context of medical pluralism, this article was contributing to the comprehension of how the structuring of social structures and health systems and the inter-functionality of its components can influence therapeutic remedies. This was a case study. The case studied was the logic of care-seeking behaviour of deseased children in a context of therapeutic pluralism. A total of 30 peoples were interviewed. These included 20 mothers and caregivers aged 6 to 59 months, 8 traditional healers and 2 health providers from the Widou thiengholi health post. Semi-directive interview guides were used for the survey. Interviews with informants were conducted in the local language of the participants. The data obtained through each in-depth individual interview were analyzed separately through the thematic content analysis. Data analysis was performed using NVivo 11 software. In the Ferlo, in the gender relations in the management of the disease in the child, the grandmother had a predominant place in the therapeutic decision-making process. The representations of diseases allowed a binary typology of diseases into "doctors" and "healers" diseases. These representations determined the type of recourse. There were other reasons for the choice of the type of remedy. The quality of the caregiver-patient relationship was one of the main reasons that influenced the choice of the health care facility as a use of care. The poor quality of the reception and the bad behavior of the providers discourage the communities to go to the health post. Despite the fact that the communities recognize the effectiveness of the treatment provided there. This study showed that disease representations play an important role in defining care-seeking behavior. Thus the “singular representations” relating to the types of illness condition the type of recourse to care. Nevertheless, there were characteristics specific to a type of remedy which contributed to the underutilization of this type of remedy. In this study, it was the quality of the care-patient relationship that was judged to be of insufficient quality and that was a factor of the underutilization of modern health services.
    VL  - 7
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal; Health Institute of Development, University Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal

  • French National Center of Sciences Research, International Joint Unit Environment Health Societies, University Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal

  • Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal; Health Institute of Development, University Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Senegal

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