| dc.description.abstract | This study is entitled "maternal health seeking behaviour in the management of child
diarrhea. It was established through literature review that globally child diarrhea is one of'
the problematic illnesses affecting children under five years Moving closer home Nyanza province was ranked 3rd as 'having high prevalence rates of child diarrhea episodes .The
purse of this study was to look into the,salient health seeking behaviour patterns which
emerges in the management of child 'diarrhea illness. To explain this phenomenon the
study adopted the situational analysis theory and the household production of health
model.
This study was set to achieve the following objectives; the first one was to examine the
role of maternal experience in child diarrhoea management. This involved the detection of
the illness, perceptions, past episodes with their nature and their consequences. Secondly, the study was set .to find out the strategies used by mothers in 'the management of child
diarrhea. The strategies anticipated by this objective were preventive, curative and
control. Both strategies were viewed on the line of traditional and modern treatment
practices. Thirdly the study sought to establish the socio- economic status of the
respondents and how it influenced child diarrhea management. This objective focused on
the both the literacy levels and the income of the respondents. Lastly the study was set to
compare the traditional and modern methods of child diarrhea management.
The method employed in this study 'was basically survey in nature and by use of an
interview schedule the study collected both quantitative and qualitative data. Qualitative
data was collected by holding interviews with 3 key informants. This data was analyzed
by using simple descriptive statistics and averages The study findings were presented in
frequency tables
In relation to the study objectives, the study came up with the following findings. On
maternal experience it was found that prior child diarrhea experience determined the form
of treatment sought in the subsequent treatment processes. It was found that. despite the
nature of tile illness, generally a majority (55%) of the respondents had a tendency of
using traditional medicine for child diarrhea treatment on the basis of their traditional
customs and beliefs But any strategy employed depended 011 the nature with which the
illness presented itself. It was found that many of the respondents (68%) were either
illiterate or had primary level of education. On income it was found that majority (60%)
earned less than 3000 mainly from their agricultural activities. This suggests that, a
majority of the respondents are constrained in the management of child diarrhea due to
low monthly incomes. When comparing the treatment options for child diarrhea, it was
found that traditional medicine was widely used especially on mild diarrhea cases while
on the other hand, modern medicine was mostly used as an alternative especially when
the situation is rather severe. Sometime both traditional and modern medicines would be
used as an attempt of achieving quick recovery.
Based 011 these findings the study recommended that the government should strengthen
adult education programme in the area as the respondent were found to have low levels of
literacy. This is expected to help reduce the magnitude of the illness. Further. the study.
appreciates the government's policy on free primary education, which is expected to have
some positive influence which shall help improve the level of literacy in Kenya: It will
specifically lead to decreased incidence of diarrhea and also increased hygienic practices
for the management of all forms of diarrhea in the village.
Since traditional medicine was highly used by mothers in the treatment of child diarrhea
especially on those illnesses considered not treatable by hospital medicine recommended
that the government should review the order outlawing use of traditional medicine.
Better still it is recommendable that the government should conduct a laboratory research
to find out the effectiveness of traditional therapies i11 child diarrhea management. Also it
was recommended that "the government should come up with policies aimed at the
improvement of the economic status of the families residing in the rural areas especially
policies focusing on reviving the agricultural sector. The government and other
development partners should come in with manageable programmes such as giving son
loans to help the rural dwellers start small business which shall help them broaden their
income base and help them improve their standard of leaving.
The study therefore recommends that further research should be conducted to assess the
proactive measures to management of child diarrhea in different parts of the country.
Also more research should be done on the post-natal group since this is the category
which was reported. by other scholars as more vulnerable than others in the under 5. In
addition further research should be done focusing on child diarrhea as a symptom
associated with other illnesses Equally important, a survey should be conducted on
health education focusing on the causes of child diarrhea, prevention and dangerous symptoms of the illness. Finally the study also recommends that community based studies on some aspects associated with child diarrhea such as: attitudes, illness perception, treatment practices and treatment knowledge are needed to assess areas of deficiency knowledge in the management of child diarrhea illnesses. | en |
