The objective was to examine how the indigenous naming, indigenous self-diagnosis and management of diabetes evolved with awareness in order to develop a socially oriented theoretical model for its ...care.
The data was collected through a one-year extended participant observation in Bafut, a rural health district of Cameroon. The sample consisted of 72 participants in a rural health district of Cameroon (men and women) with type 2 diabetes. We used participant observation to collect data through focus group discussions, in depth interviews and fieldwork conversations. The method of analysis entailed a thick description, thematic analysis entailing constant comparison within and across FGD and across individual participants and content analysis.
The core concepts identified were the evolution of names for diabetes and the indigenous diagnostic and self-management procedures. Participants fell into one of two naming typologies: (a) Naming excluding any signs and symptoms of diabetes; (b) naming including signs and symptoms of diabetes. Participants fell into two typologies of diagnostic procedures: (a) those that use indigenous diagnostic procedures for monitoring and controlling diabetes outcomes and b) those that had initially used it only for diagnosis and continued to use them for self management. These typologies varied according to how participants' awareness evolved and the impact on self-diagnosis and management.
The evolution of names for diabetes was an important factor that influenced the subsequent self-diagnosis and management of diabetes in both traditional and modern biomedical settings.
We set out to assess the perceived risk factors of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and diabetes mellitus in an urban setting using focus group discussions and in-depth interviews to collect data from ...different stakeholders constituting the triangle of care. Ethnomethodological analyses were done manually and with Ethnograph® software. The results showed an awareness of emergence of CVD and diabetes in Cameroon and perceived relationships between risk factors and CVD and diabetes. The awareness of behavioural risk factors was higher than the biological ones, though perceptions about them were muddled. The main drawbacks for reducing risk factors were perceived to emerge from the lack of a national policy programme on non-communicable diseases; and the low level of awareness of the need to reduce these risk factors. The assessment illustrates that there is currently a mismatch between the needs and expectations of all the stakeholders regarding health promotion and advice on risk factors reduction and an apparent reluctance by health care providers to fulfil this role. This issue can only be addressed in countries of sub-Sahara through capacity building for control and prevention of CVD risk factors.
Despite the enormous breakthroughs recorded by the risk factor paradigm in dealing with the science of epidemiology, present day health concerns mandate a broader and more holistic approach in ...appreciating disease distribution and effective control. Eco - epidemiology combines molecular, societal and population-based aspects to study health-related problems.Multilevel epidemiology, a key component of this concept calls for the study of health and disease determinants defined at the population level and individual level for a more comprehensive strategy to understanding human disease etiology. Multidisciplinary teams of epidemiologists, geneticists, molecular biologists and social scientists in appreciating public health concerns could be relatively very expensive and tedious to establish and coordinate. It would be most beneficial to public health if academia could start inculcating the 'eco' in appreciation of health problems as multidisciplinary to future epidemiologists. There exists however a risk of lessening a deeper sense of sound reasoning that could arise from over reliance on other colleagues from allied disciplines.
An Annual festival is a cultural event which is celebrated by most if not all Western Grassfields Fondoms. In Bafut, this annual festival is referred to as ‘abine-mfor’ (fon’s dance) or ‘flutes’ ...dance’. This occasion was instituted by the very first fon of the Bafut Fondom to commemorate the ancestors and spirits through sacrifices and dancing. The majority of Bafut people admire and celebrate the Abine-mfor with passion but very few understand the raison d’être of the dance. The question is what is the cultural significance of the fon’s dance in the life of the Bafut fondom? This paper examines the symbolism of Abine-mfor and the functions of the ceremony in the life of the fondom. Collecting data for this paper, we used the qualitative method. This method was employed through techniques such as participant observation, in-depth interview, informal discussions, literature review and photography. The data was interpreted using theories of symbolic anthropology of Geertz, and functionalism of Malinowski and Brown. Major findings reveal that in the Annual dance, the villagers perform traditional dances, sacrifices to honour their ancestors and spirits. This ceremony therefore reflects the belief system, social and political form of organisation of the Bafut Fondom. Cultural manifestations such as Abine-mfor and others should be documented (Historical Particularism of Boas) so that Bafut and non-Bafut people should understand its importance to the cultural heritage of Bafut in particular and that of Cameroon in general.
In Cameroon, malaria is a major public health problem despite the response mechanisms put in place.According to the Ewondo Population, an interinfluential relationship exists between this pathology ...andspleen disease, a disease recognized as such only at the community level. Our main objective was todescribe the perceptions and different cultural mechanisms of the management of these two affections.To achieve this goal, 70 informants were interviewed, and results were obtained. The populationsattributed to these pathologies, namely, ebem koé or snail spleen and tite meki or an animal’s blooddisease describe the characteristics and potential sources of these pathologies. In the event of a malariacrisis, 37.1% of the informants used their knowledge of existing therapeutic solutions, 28.6% passedthrough clinician advices, and 34.3% recourse to traditional pharmacopoeia. For proven spleen diseasecases, 77.1% of the informants directly sought the services of traditional doctors, and 20.8% used theirown knowledge. Of the 42 samples identified, 28 were used against spleen disease and 14 againstmalaria, while 9 were used against both pathologies. This reflection contributes to the enhancement oftraditional pharmacopoeia through the enrichment of knowledge of the natural resources used byEwondo.
This article examines popular understandings of diabetes, and conflicts and ambiguities in the management of diabetes care, in two areas of Cameroon. Conducted over a two-year period, comparative ...ethnography in Yaoundé and Bafut started in four diabetes clinics (two in each place). From there it extended outwards, first to the homes of patients with diabetes, and then on to a number of indigenous healers consulted by patients or their families. We explore here the tension between clinic-based demands for patients' ‘compliance’ with treatment guidelines, including repeated strictures against resorting to ‘traditional’ medicine, and patients' own willingness to alternate between biomedicine and indigenous practitioners, a process in which they subject the claims of both to a kind of pragmatic evaluation. The continuing importance of indigenous healing practices, and explanations for diabetes in terms of ancestral intervention or witchcraft, are considered in the light of recent anthropological debate about the ‘modernity of witchcraft’ in Africa. Cet article examine les interprétations populaires du diabète, ainsi que les conflits et les ambiguïtés dans la gestion du traitement du diabète dans deux régions du Cameroun. L'ethnographie comparative menée sur une période de deux ans à Yaoundé et Bafut a commencé dans quatre cliniques du diabète (deux dans chaque ville). L’étude s'est ensuite élargie au domicile des patients diabétiques, puis à un certain nombre de guérisseurs indigènes consultés par les patients ou leur famille. L'article explore les tensions entre d'une part les exigences des cliniques en matière d'observance de traitement par les patients (y compris des critiques sévères répétées contre le recours à la médecine « traditionnelle ») et, d'autre part, la volonté des patients d'alterner entre praticiens de la biomédecine et praticiens indigènes, un processus dans lequel ils soumettent les prétentions des uns et des autres à une sorte d’évaluation pragmatique. L'importance persistante des pratiques de guérison indigènes, et les explications du diabète en termes d'intervention ancestrale ou de sorcellerie, sont étudiées à la lumière du débat anthropologique récent sur la « modernité de la sorcellerie » en Afrique.
Chronic diseases are becoming increasingly important in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The current density and distribution of health workforce suggest that SSA cannot respond to the growing demand for ...chronic disease care, together with the frequent infectious diseases. Innovative approaches are therefore needed to rapidly expand the health workforce. In this article, we discuss the evidences in support of nurse-led strategies for chronic disease management in SSA, with a focus on hypertension and diabetes mellitus.
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