ABSTRACT
This article is part of a study that described and analyzed the development of nursing education in Trinidad and Tobago from self-government in 1956 to 1986, with special emphasis on the forces that helped to shape the society from colonial times, and consequently, nursing education. Adaptation and application of major concepts from theories of underdevelopment and development and colonialism formed the basis of the study's theoretical framework. The article focuses on the impact of the metropolitan countries on the development of health care policies. Because of the nation's historical legacy of colonialism and its current linkages with the United States and Canada, a major area fundamental to the analysis was to determine whether those two countries had superseded traditional British influences in determining health care policies. This raised the issue of whether or not health care policies could be autonomously developed to meet the needs of the people.
PIP: This article is part of a study that described and analyzed the development of nursing education in Trinidad and Tobago from self-government in 1956 to 1986, with special emphasis on the forces that helped to shape the society from colonial times, and consequently, nursing education. Adaptation and application of major concepts from theories of underdevelopment and development and colonialism formed the basis of the study's theoretical framework. The article focuses on the impact of the metropolitan countries on the development of health care policies. Because of the nation's historical legacy of colonialism and its current-linkages with the US and Canada, a major area fundamental to the analysis was to determine whether those 2 countries had superseded traditional British influences in determining health care policies. During the colonial era, the health care services and related policies reflected the economic and social structures and relationships that characterized the society. The focus of health care was primarily curative with limited attention paid to public health. In the postcolonial era, psychological and administrative factors inherited from an earlier period hindered the effective functioning of the health care services. Despite this handicap, the national government in power, with input from metropolitan sources, had effected structural changes. While there was still an emphasis on curative services, public health initiatives received high priority with the development of rural and suburban health care centers, and subsequent improved health status of the masses. The health care of North American medicine was imitated but unsustainable. Expansion of education has created increased expectations and demand for improved and accessible health services but health care policies did not develop autonomously for meeting the needs of the masses. During a period of economic recession, this remains a critical problem facing the nation.
