ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To determine the level of understanding of the issues of climate change (CC)/variability (CV) and public health by populations of St Kitts and Nevis (SKN) and Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) and to find whether respondents would be willing to incorporate these values into strategies for dengue fever (DF) prevention. DESIGN AND METHODS: Using a cluster sampling system, representative samples of the communities of SKN (227) and T&T (650) were surveyed for responses to a questionnaire document with questions on the impact of climate variability on health, the physical environment, respondents' willingness to utilize climate issues to predict and adapt to climate variability for DF prevention. Data were analyzed by Epi Info. RESULTS: Sixty-two per cent SKN and 55% T&T of respondents showed some understanding of the concept of climate change (CC) and distinguished this from climate variability (CV). With regard to causes of CC, 48% SKN and 50% T&T attributed CC to all of green houses gases, holes in the ozone layer burning of vegetation and vehicular exhaust gases. However some 39.3% SKN and 31% (T&T) did not answer this question. In response to ranking issues of life affected by CC/CV in both countries, respondents ranked them: health > water resources > agriculture > biodiversity > coastal degradation. The major health issues identified for SKN and T&T respondents were: food-borne diseases > water-borne diseases > heat stresses; vector-borne diseases were only ranked 4th and 5th for SKN and T&T respondents respectively. There was in both countries a significant proportion of respondents (p < 0.001) who reported wet season-related increase of DF cases as a CC/CV link. Respondents identified use of environmental sanitation (ES) at appropriate times as a method of choice of using CC/CV to prevent DF outbreaks. More than 82% in both countries saw the use of the CC/CV information for DF prevention by prediction and control as strategic but only 50-51...
OBJETIVO: Determinar los niveles de comprensión de los problemas del cambio climático (CC)/ variabilidad (CV) y salud pública por parte de las poblaciones de St Kitts y Nevis (SKN) y Trinidad y Tobago (T&T), y averiguar si los encuestados estarían dispuestos a incorporar estos valores en las estrategias para la previsión de la fiebre del dengue (FD). DISEÑO Y MÉTODOS: Usando un sistema de muestreo por conglomerados, muestras representativas de las comunidades de SKN (227) y de T&T (650) fueron encuestadas mediante un cuestionario en el que se les pedía responder preguntas sobre el impacto de la variabilidad del clima sobre la salud, el ambiente físico, y la disposición de los encuestados a aprovechar las cuestiones del clima para predecir y adaptarse a la variabilidad climática a fin de prevenir la FD. Los datos fueron analizados mediante Epi Info. RESULTADOS: Sesenta y dos por ciento de los encuestados de SKN y el 55% de los de T&T, mostraron cierta comprensión del concepto de cambio climático (CC) y fueron capaces de diferenciarlo de la variabilidad climática (CV). En relación con las causas del CC, el 48% (SKN) y el 50% (T&T) atribuyó el CC a los gases de efecto invernadero, los agujeros en la capa de ozono, la quema de la vegetación, y los gases de escape de vehículos.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Adolescent , Adult , Middle Aged , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Dengue/prevention & control , Greenhouse Effect , Public Health/trends , Data Collection , Dengue/epidemiology , Demography , Social Marketing , Health Promotion , Surveys and Questionnaires , Saint Kitts and Nevis/epidemiology , Trinidad and Tobago/epidemiologyABSTRACT
This paper comments on research data, from a survey, which sought to determine the health and social circumstances of persons in Trinidad who were providing informal care for the chronically ill elderly during the period, March to August 1998. The research also sought to ascertain the main concerns of the caregivers in their caregiving role. One hundred caregivers in North, Central and South Trinidad were chosen using a convenience sampling method. Caregivers selected had to be at least eighteen years old and residing in their own homes or in the home of the cared. The caregivers ranged in age from 20-89 years. Eighty two percent of the caregivers were females. Wives, daughters and daughters-in-law were the main caregivers. Daughters-in-law were especially instrumental in providing informal care in Indo-Trinidadian households being 28 of caregivers in those households compared to 4 for daughters-in-laws in Afro-Trinidadian households. Fifty percent of the caregivers reported their health to be good. The main health conditions reported by the others were hypertension (14), diabetes mellitus (9) and arthritis (18). The main concern which the caregivers reported was stress (50). The study revealed that caregiving was perceived by most of these caregivers to be extremely stressful. Daughters, daughters-in-law and wives bore the greatest burden of care and desired greater assistance from family members and friends. The paper makes reference to a government programme which trains young adults to work with the chronically ill elderly, in their own home. It makes a case for the greater use of such young persons in order to relieve relatives of some of the burden of care.